


midnight rendezvous

by consistently_inconsistent



Category: ENHYPEN (Band), I-LAND (Korea TV)
Genre: A.K.A other i-land bois!!!, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Friendship, Heeseung is taking his gap year, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Shim Jaeyoon | Jake/Park Sunghoon, Platonic Relationships, Road Trips, a.k.a me aggressively self projecting on heesungjay, and jay decides they should take a road trip before they leave, basically bighit trio go on a road trip, basically they're all going to college soon, but mostly focuses on the bighit trio friendship, but no one does anything, coughitsjakecough, drugs and alcohol are like mentioned, duh they're driving, ooh and they run into all these cool people, set in america so all of them can have their license, some minor jakehoon, sunghoon gets flirted with at a 24/7 in like chapter two, tags get update as i go :')
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26050744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/consistently_inconsistent/pseuds/consistently_inconsistent
Summary: "Alright, so we've got our suitcases, our travel bags, toiletries, snacks for the car, sanitizer, fully packed emergency first aid kit, charging cables, music, lip balm - are we missing anything?" Heeseung says. Jay and Sunghoon are both in the car already staring at him with perplexed looks. Sunghoon's sitting in the front because neither of them trust Jay with directions, but Jay's fine with it because they let him be in control of the music in exchange (after Heeseung gets a good look at his playlists at least).Sunghoon raises a brow, looking at Heeseung through the window and saying, "I don't know, maybe a driver would be a nice?"Heeseung whines, "I'm just taking extra precautions - Jay, you made sure we has gas right? We don't know where the next gas station will be-""Hyung, we literally went together because you didn't trust me alone with your car.""Sunghoon, you made sure to pack my emergency ramyeon with you right-""Yes, Hyung, we've been going over this for 45 minutes, we've got everything - now can we please get going?";Jay, Sunghoon and Heeseung take a road trip before they leave for college - things are good, a little weird sometimes, but well, they're having fun.
Relationships: Lee Heeseung & Park Sunghoon & Park Jong Seong | Jay, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Ngô Ngọc Hưng | Hanbin/Wang Yixiang | Nicholas, Shim Jaeyoon | Jake/Park Sunghoon
Comments: 94
Kudos: 136





	1. the end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though they're spending all this time together, they're not really doing anything. Yeah, they go watch movies and take midnight walks to the skate park, sometimes they even go shopping and Jay insists on styling his two best friends, but it's nothing too exciting -and Jay doesn't want that. He wants to make unforgettable memories with his friends, wants to do bungee jumping at night, wants to have bonfires on the beach, wants to go sky-diving, wants to sneak into bars and go to music festivals and go on a road tri- well that's an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first chaptered I-Land fic omg im excited

The fact that they've really graduated hasn't quite sunk in yet.

Jay doesn't know whether it's because he still has college stuff to sort through, or because he's still spending as much time with Sunghoon as he did throughout high school, or because of something else altogether, but Jay hasn't really absorbed that it's all over yet. Done, finished, no more morning skate-boarding to the bus stop (much to his parents chagrin), no more annoying tired Sunghoon during first period, no more calling Heeseung in a panic to ask if he has any of his old high school essays on him because Heeseung is smart and Jay is a smart at cheating the system.

Either way, it doesn't quite feel real yet. 

He knows somewhere in the back of his mind that they don't have too much time left. Sunghoon's got an athletic scholarship to a school in California, courtesy of his numerous figure skating trophies, and is going to be out of their little corner of the country by next september. Heeseung's going even further away, having gotten into one of those big prestigious korean universities for the hyper academic, he took a whole gap year to do it too and Jay's proud of him but he doesn't understand why the older's voluntarily putting himself through the single most rigorous education system in the world. Jay's leaving too though, he's smart enough and that combined with his dad's business connections means he's going to be at an Ivy League school by the end of the year - he doesn't know if this is what he wants, but he doesn't quite know what he _does_ want either, so he's just going to roll with it. He'll probably go to one of the less prestigious ones, a Dartmouth or a Cornell, he knows his dad is secretly hoping for a Yale or a Harvard, but Jay's never cared too much about his dad's wishes. 

Nevertheless, Jay wants to make the most of whatever time they do have together. Him and Sunghoon took Heeseung's gap year for granted, not meeting with the older nearly as much as they should have - granted meeting is hard enough with Sunghoon's tight schedules, boy wakes up at 4.am and goes to sleep at 2 to maintain his academics and his athletics. Jay respects him for it immensely but he'll never admit that to the younger. Either way, Sunghoon's on a figure-skating break right now, he's just come back from one of those tournaments - Jay can't keep track of them anymore - with a shiny silver medal around his neck and the knowledge that he now ranks 7th among _all_ the male figure skaters in the country. Jay's proud of him, but again, he's not going to admit it.

Still, Sunghoon's break means they've been spending more time together than usual. Him and Jay practically live at Heeseung's house at this point, and Jay can't remember the last time he's seen Sunghoon in a hoodie that actually belongs to him (even now he has on the big grey one Heeseung used to wear to school last year and just yesterday he'd snagged Jay's BTS Hoodie - the one he actually _stood in line outside a concert_ to buy and cost him far more than it should have). But, even though they're spending all this time together, they're not really _doing anything_. Yeah, they go watch movies and take midnight walks to the skate park, sometimes they even go shopping and Jay insists on styling his two best friends, but it's nothing too exciting.

And Jay doesn't want that, he wants to make unforgettable memories with his friends, wants to do bungee jumping at night, wants to have bonfires on the beach, wants to go sky-diving, wants to sneak into bars and go to music festivals and go on a road tri- well that's an idea.

"This is a terrible idea," Heeseung says, "I'm just going to be driving the whole time, I don't want that!"

Jay groans, he's been trying to convince Heeseung for what feels like hours now (it's been 30 minutes), but Heeseung is as stubborn as he is intelligent and Jay's getting nowhere. He just wants to go on a road trip - it isn't too much to ask. Heeseung has a car, Jay has like 3, they all know how to drive - Jay's even willing to fund the whole thing, god knows he can afford it (he hates the label but he knows full well that he is, in fact, a trust fund baby). They're all in Heeseung's room right now, Jay and Sunghoon piled onto the bed and Heeseung on the floor playing some new video game he got. Sunghoon's ignoring the conversation mostly, staring down at his phone, Heeseung's put his controller down and he's looking at Jay with a look that screams judging dad - Jay would know.

"Come _on_ , Hyung," Jay counters, "me and Sunghoon both have our licenses too, we'll take turns!"

Heeseung fixes him with an unimpressed stare,"No, Sunghoon only has a learners permit, and either way I don't trust either of you with my car!" Heeseung says, adamantly, "she's my baby!" Sunghoon perks up, finally looking up from his phone, "I thought Alex was a he?" He says , and Jay can't believe _this_ is where the younger decides to finally contribute to the conversation, as if Jay hasn't been begging Heeseung to let them have what is probably going to be _the most fun_ they'll ever have in their lives. He fixes Sunghoon with a glare, but both his best friends ignore him. Heeseung proceeds to shake his head, "No, I named her after Selena Gomez in Wizards of Waverly Place-"

"We're getting off topic!" Jay says, voice getting desperate, "c'mon hyung, just one road trip! Sunghoon's with me, right Hoon?"

The younger looks up at him, taking a second to process Jay's words before responding with a shrug, "sure," he says, finally putting his phone to the side, "besides Heeseung Hyung's going to do all the driving anyway."

Jay's going to kill him.

Heeseung looks like he's struggling to hold back a grin. He looks at Sunghoon with an expression that could range anywhere from disbelief to amusement, "did you miss everything we just discussed?" He asks, voice definitely amused at that point. Sunghoon smiles, that typical wide smile that always had everyone else in school squealing and had Jay wanting to punch it off as his face. "Yeah," Sunghoon says, "I stopped listening after Jay started making the playlist." Betrayal.

"That was like an hour ago!" He yells angrily.

"I'm sorry, you started listing Phineas and Ferb songs and i stopped listening-"

"I will have you know that 'Ain't Got Rhythm' is an actual banger - besides, again, it was like an hour ago!"

"Jay, we got here an hour ago," Sunghoon counters.

Jay wants a new best friend.

He groans loudly, shoving Sunghoon with his shoulder hard enough to send the boy toppling onto the bed with a laugh. It, annoyingly, ends up working in Sunghoon's favor, because now he's lounging on that big pillow Heeseung hugs to sleep at night and his legs are draped lazily over Jay's. Heeseung laughs from the floor, getting up to crash onto the bed beside Sunghoon. It really isn't big enough for all three of them, just a bit bigger than your usual twin bed, but they make it work, and Heeseung's legs soon join Sunghoon's on Jay's thighs. 

"Okay but on a serious note," Sunghoon says, "I'm actually down with the road trip idea." Heeseung groans at that, burying his face into the side of Sunghoon's neck, at the same time Jay pumps his fist letting out a whoop of excitement, intertwining his hands with sunghoons, bringing them up, and shaking them around like a mad man. "Yes!" Jay cheers, still refusing to let go of Sunghoon's arm, despite the younger boy's complains of ' _Jay, I love you and all that but this fucking hurts!'_ Heeseung sighs from beside them, "I don't know, guys," he says, ever ~~annoyingly~~ the voice of reason. "It'll obviously be fun and all that but like, how are we going to pay for it? Where are we even going to go? Where are we going to stay? You've gotta plan ahead for stuff like this you know."

"Oh boo hoo," Jay says, letting Sunghoon's hand fall from his grasp and instead smacking Heeseung's thigh in retaliation. "I'll obviously pay for it, that's not a problem - and as for where we can go we can just, I don't know, basically go wherever we like. We can like stay at different places every night - like, Kei Hyung lives like 7 hours away, and my cousin Jungwon has a summer job at this little bread and breakfast place not too far away from Kei Hyung's place - we can figure it out as it goes you know."

"We'll throw caution to the wind!" Jay says.

Sunghoon cheers,"we'll have an adventure!"

"Okay calm, I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves."

Jay and Sunghoon exchange a look. Jay stares at his best friend and whispers, "do it."

Now, there's really only 2 things you have to know have about Lee Heeseung. Number 1: Lee Heesung is smart. Like annoyingly smart. Like so smart Jay wonders how he hasn't already won a nobel prize smart. He was notorious for it in high school, he topped every subject back then, they used to call him an ace. He'd gotten into basically all his dream schools last year, but then made a last minute decision to go study in Korea, something about getting in touch with his heritage and how his grandfather had been a student there and some sentimental crap like that. Number 2: Speaking of sentimental, Lee Heeseung is _weak_. He's weak for cute things, fluffy things, even just, plain small things like the ladybug that used to live in Jay's front yard when the three of them were in middle school - you pull out the cute factor, and Heeseung has no way of saying no. It's like his only weakness, Heeseung can debate his way out of any situation, ace difficult ethics papers without a day of studying, and get into every Ivy League school in existence _plus_ NYU, all the UCs and OxBridge - but put something cute in front of him and he wilts like a flower.

Luckily for them, as much as Jay hates to admit it, Sunghoon is about as cute as a 17 year old boy can get.

They use this fact to their full advantage, and god does Sunghoon know how to use his face. He burrows himself further into Heeseung's hoodie - Heeseung is just barely taller than him, but Sunghoon's lean and skinny because of his figure skating, so the hoodie swallows him whole anyway. He turns his head to look up at Heeseung, his eyes going wide and his bottom lip jutting ever so slightly. Jay doesn't know how he does it, but suddenly the sharp angular lines of Sunghoon's face are forgotten, and instead Heeseung gets a full view of his little upturned nose and his full lips and his begging eyes. Heeseung winces, he knows what they're doing, and Jay thinks that he really should've built up an immunity by now - Jay, for example, is now completely immune to Sunghoon's puppy dog eyes. But Heeseung is, once again, weak as fuck, and one glance at Sunghoon and he's sighing out a "fucking hell, _fine_."

Jay cheers so loudly Mrs. Lee comes running in to ask if they're alright.

"Alright, so we've got our suitcases, our travel bags, toiletries, snacks for the car, sanitizer, emergency medicines, emergency bandaids, charging cables, good music, lip balm - are we missing anything?" Heeseung says. Jay and Sunghoon are both in the car already staring at him with perplexed looks. Sunghoon's sitting in the front because neither of them trust Jay with directions, but Jay's fine with it because they let him be in control of the music in exchange (after Heeseung gets a good look at his playlists of course - they're not too bad, a lot of hip-hop, a lot of bts, some good old fashioned pop thrown in there for good measure, Heeseung can't complain).

Sunghoon raises a brow, looking at Heeseung through the window and saying, "I don't know, maybe a driver would be a nice?"

Heeseung whines, "I'm just taking extra precautions - Jay, you made sure Alex has gas right? We don't know where the next gas station will be-"

"Hyung, we literally went together because you didn't trust me alone with your car."

"Sunghoon, you made sure to get my emergency ramyeon with you right-"

" _Yes_ , Hyung, for god's sake we've been going over this for 45 minutes, we've got _everything_."

Heeseung takes one last look at the trunk, and then one more at the back seat where Jay's sitting besides a giant paper bag of snacks (meticulously packed by Jay's mom) and more pillows than any of them need. He thinks everything's there, Jay, by some miracle, did not forget to bring ample water bottles and Sunghoon has brought warm clothes even though he keeps saying he doesn't feel cold ( _"I spend 80% of my time at an ice-rink, hyung - this is really nothing, it's like 15 degrees out"_ ), and Heeseung had indeed gone with Jay to make sure Alex had fuel.

He finally - _finally_ \- gets into the car, much to his friends relief. "Thank god," Sunghoon sighs out, Heeseung swats at his arm, "shut up, have some respect, I'm literally driving." Sunghoon giggles, and Heeseung concedes because he's weak - listen it's not his fault, he had no younger siblings growing up, he's never built up a tolerance (Jay complains that he didn't have any siblings either, but Heeseung insists that it's because him and Sunghoon have just seen each other too much ~~as if Heeseung hasn't known the boy for just as long~~ ). He's even weak with Jay and his god awful puppy dog face that really looks more like a bad Angelina Jolie impression, what can he say, he's just a little soft.

"Wooh! Finally!" Jay cheers, he moves to the center of the backseat, leaning forward into where the gear is and placing a hand each on Sunghoon and Heeseung's seats, "are you guys read for the best road trip we've ever been on" Heeseung laughs, "Jay, this is the _only_ road trip we've ever been on." Jay whines at this, "Hyung," he says, stretching the word, "let me breath for like three seconds, man." Heeseung just chuckles and leans his arm back to ruffle Jay's hair, its an awkward angle, and Jay groans in response, but Heeseung's still glad he did it.

"Alright," Heeseung says firmly, hand on the gear as he pulls backwards and the car's in motion, "where to first?"

Sunghoon opens up his phone, the blue light illuminates the car (it's about 7:30, the sun's pretty much set already). "Kei Hyung sent me his adress this morning, google maps says it's about 4 hours away." Heeseung guides Alex out of the driveway, his parents have long since had their goodbyes, but he can see them peering out from the house, he rolls down his window and extends his hand outwards, waving goodbye. "Alright, so just drive up the IKEA because it's pretty straight forward till there, I'll tell you where to go from there," Sunghoon continues, "the route isn't too tricky while you're still on the highway, but it get's a little more confusing once you're in town - we won't be there for hours though. Heeseung clicks his tongue in response, and drives onto the familiar route, there are still kids outside, and they wave at the car as they drive through town.

Jay scrambles to grab ahold of the chord, "okay but before we start," he says, plugging in his phone, "music."

Sunghoon groans as Jay's music starts playing - the first song is the Phineas and Ferb Theme Song. 

Fucker changed the [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Aup4J103DRWnVZt5c5fiS?si=N0YrItn9StWNRSJP_vGgxQ). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to listen to the playlist the boys' are vibing to just click on the last word of chapter 1 🙃 (fair warning this is the most chaotic playlist i've ever made, i thought of what the boys would probably listen to and then sprinkled in some of my favorites, so it's mostly a bunch of rap, hip-hop and ofc kpop, with a healthy dose of good old fashioned pop, some nostalgia, and all the pretentious alt indie pop i listen to religiously, thank you)
> 
> next chapter features: jake!!!


	2. check-out boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ooh, okay!" Jay cheers, "there's a 24/7 like 5 minutes away?"
> 
> Sunghoon turns back, making grabby hands at Jay's brand new iphone (it was the latest model, Sunghoon didn't remember when Jay had gotten a new one, then again Jay got new phones more often than Sunghoon replaced the blades on his skates, "show me where it is, I'll see if it aligns with the route." Jay hands over his phone and Sunghoon finds that it's just barely off the road they're following. He hums, "okay so it's basically on the way, we just need to take one left off the route to Kei Hyung's apartment." Heeseung glances at him from the corner of his eye, "you sure?" Sunghoon groans, "yes, hyung," he says with a roll of his eyes, "just, please trust technology for once in your life."
> 
> "Listen, I'm just trying to be safe-"
> 
> "Yes, Hyung, we've had this conversation 20 times - can you just please listen to Sunghoon, I'm hungry!"
> 
> "Which is why I said we should've packed more snacks-"
> 
> "Hyung!" Both Sunghoon and Jay groan in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> said chapters were gonna be shorter but this is 4000+ words i-

"We've been driving for _ages_ ," Jay whines, "how are we not there yet."

"Driving for ages is kind of what you do on a road-trip, Jay," Sunghoon says, "you asked for this." Heeseung chuckles from next to him on the drivers seat, Jay's at the back, laid out with his knees propped up against the open window dangerously - the roads empty, Jay says, he'll be fine, at least according to himself (Sunghoon can't admit he's worried, Jay would never let him forget about it- _"Awe, Hoonie, you do care!"_ ). Jay frowns, whacking the back of Sunghoon's seat with the neck pillow he brought along but has yet to use - really it hurts more than it should. "Not at midnight - I just want some food, man!" Jay exclaims.

Sunghoon catches Jay pouting from the rearview mirror and sticks out his tongue.

Jay returns the sentiment.

Heeseung chuckles.

He hums, and Sunghoon knows that he's all-too-acquainted with their bickering, he'd feel bad if it was anyone but Heeseung, thankfully it's not. "There's probably a 24/7 nearby, right? Kei Hyung said there was one not too far off from his place, and I haven't seen one yet, so it must be coming up now, right?" Heeseung offers, ever the voice of reason in their little trio. Jay perks up at that, sitting up on his seat and pulling out his phone with an excited "on it, hyung!" and the blue light from his phone screen fills up the car, it makes Jay look like one of those horror-movie ghosts he's so afraid of, and Sunghoon finds himself chuckling - Jay is kind of adorable that way, in a wholly annoying, infuriating, tring, and yet completely endearing way. (Don't tell him that.) They've been driving for just a little under 5 hours at this point, so maybe Jay's constant stream of are-we-there-yet's are warranted, since according to google maps they should have been at Kei's apartment by now. Unfortunately, Heeseung's cautious to a fault, which means he makes Sunghoon check and double check every single turn they have to take, as if the voice coming out of his phone isn't already doing that for them.

Sunghoon's excited though, he hasn't seen Kei since the guy graduated from college just last year. He's a lot older than them, a whole 5 years older than Jay and Sunghoon, and Sunghoon remembers absolutely idolizing him back in middle school. Kei was a marathon runner back then, and Sunghoon always saw him training at the sports center he went to. Their age gap had been big, especially considering Kei was a high school senior and Sunghoon was in the 7th grade, but given that there weren't too many other asians in their part of the country - especially those that did sports - Kei had sort of taken him under his wing (he had an affinity for that, Kei essentially had a legion of kids of various ages at his beck and call). From there Sunghoon had introduced him to his friends and Kei had somehow pseudo-adopted them as well, it was nice really, he was like a cool older cousin or something, he'd sneak them beers and tell them crazy college stories, he was kind of the perfect older brother.

Kei had just recently graduated from their local community college, he'd given up his marathon running to pursue dance instead 3 months before he was supposed to be moving to New York to start attending college - much to his parents horror, and now he'd moved into the city not too far away from the quiet suburbs he'd come from. He'd proven to have had an innate talent for it, dancing that is. He'd started uploading dance covers to social media and eventually he was contacted by a dance troupe in the city, Sunghoon remembers Kei video calling him to tell him the news, eyes and smile wide. It was rare to see that on Kei, who was typically closed off about how he really felt when it came to his own happiness - he was fairly expressive everywhere else though, fierce and ambitious, blunt to a fault, it got him in trouble from time to time but at the end of the day Sunghoon really admired Kei for it.

He'd missed Kei, and hadn't seen him since the three of them had gone to see his college graduation, Sunghoon really was excited to see the guy again.

"Ooh, okay!" Jay cheers, "there's a 24/7 like 5 minutes away?"

Sunghoon turns back, making grabby hands at Jay's brand new iphone (it was the latest model, Sunghoon didn't remember when Jay had gotten a new one, he also didn't really know which one it was, then again keeping track of Jay's phones was harder than keeping track of how many times he fell while trying to do a triple axle - a lot, it was a lot, Jay got a lot of phones), "show me where it is, I'll see if it aligns with the route." Jay hands over his phone and Sunghoon finds that it's just barely off the road they're following. He hums, "okay so it's basically on the way, we just need to take one left off the route to Kei Hyung's apartment." Heeseung glances at him from the corner of his eye, "you sure?" Sunghoon groans, "yes, hyung," he says with a roll of his eyes, "just, please trust technology for once in your life."

"Listen, I'm just _trying_ to be safe-"

" _Yes_ , Hyung, we've had this conversation 20 times - can you just please listen to Sunghoon, I'm hungry!"

"Which is why I said we should've packed more snacks-"

" _Hyung_!" Both Sunghoon and Jay groan in unison. Heeseung holds up one arm in surrender, the other still clutching the wheel tightly, " _Jeez_ , okay fine I'll listen to that damned phone." Jay sighs in relief, "finally," he says, and then adds, "Hyung, has anyone ever told you that you and my mom are like, the same person." Sunghoon snorts at that - he can also attest to it. Mrs. Park and Heeseung have some shockingly similar tendencies in common, mostly it's copious amounts of over-planning, a hatred for google maps, and nagging Jay till he screams. He screams a lot. Sunghoon knows because 90% of the time he has to be there with him to make sure he doesn't do anything particularly stupid with his frustration, like get his ears pierced on a whim ( _again_ ), or give himself a buzzcut ( _again_ ), or set the kitchen on fire (by accident of course ( _again_ )). 

Anyway. 

All 24/7's look exactly the same, Sunghoon realizes, as Heeseung pulls up and gets ready to park. Jay rushes in before Heeseung even has a chance to stop the car, and Heeseung lets out a squeak of indignation before sighing and letting Jay do what he wants, Sunghoon just laughs and rushes after Jay the minute Heeseung's parked safely (he registers Heeseung saying something along the lines of kids these days, as if Jay's birthday isn't closer to Heeseung's than it is Sunghoon's).

The bright lights inside are unforgiving, and Sunghoon finds himself squinting as he enters the store. Jay's running around inside, as if he hadn't been draped over the backseat complaining a minute ago, and his arms are already halfway full with various snacks. "Sunghoon!" He yells the minute he sees Sunghoon standing by the doorway, Sunghoon feels bad for the check out guy already, "you think we should pick up some tteok-beokkie for Kei Hyung? He used to love it when mom made it whenever he came over." Sunghoon raises a brow, walking over to stand next to Jay in front of the cereal stand. "We're going to be there for like a single night, man," Sunghoon says, as Jay reaches over to grab a box of fruit loops, "plus I'm pretty sure 24/7's don't have tteok-beokkie."

" _Whaaaat_ , no way," Jay whines, "they've gotta at least have ramyeon, right?"

"I mean, not the kind you're mom gets, that's from that specialty korean grocery store - why do you think Heeseung Hyung packed so much extra ramyeon with us?"

"Fuck."

It's easy sometimes, to forget that Jay doesn't usually shop at places like 24/7.

Sunghoon wanders off, he can feel Jay at his heel, he can also hear the rattling of 2 boxes of fruit loops, a pringles can, and a bottle of honey in his arms (Jay always, always, has his a bottle of honey - he actually already had 3 tiny bottles in the car, but considering how fast Jay usually goes through them, what's another bottle?). "I want ice-cream," Sunghoon says suddenly, eyes scouring the store trying to locate a freezer. "At _midnight_?" Jay asks judgmentally. Sunghoon quirks a brow, "Say that when your arms aren't full of fruit loops Jay." Jay concedes with a roll of his eyes and a pout, and Sunghoon finds the freezer soon enough, stacked to the brim with plastic cups and popsicles, god does Sunghoon love 24/7's.

The door opens again with a ding and from the corner of his eye Sunghoon sees Heeseung step into the store. "Hyung," he says loudly - again, Sunghoon feels for that poor, poor midnight employee, "you want ice cream?" Heeseung's eyes wander around the store trying to find them, and when he does he yells out a, “ice cream? Right now?”

"See, that's what i said-"

"Sure!"

Jay groans, and Sunghoon grins at his triumphantly, the older just smacks him in return, sighs, and says, "I'll have a Peanut Butter.”

Sunghoon grins as the cold air from the freezer hits his face, god, there are few things that compare to the sheer joy of proving Jay wrong. "Hyung," Sunghoon calls out, "what flavour do you want?" Heeseung walks over to them, standing besides Jay behind Sunghoon and shooting the contents of Jay's arms an exasperated glance. "Cookies and Cream," he says eventually, "wait, unless they have mint chip - do they have Mint Chip?" Sunghoon laughs, Heeseung's a libra, and it always shows when he has to make decisions like these, "they've got both, Hyung." Heeseung groans, "shit, I don't know," he says, "Jay, pick for me." Jay rolls his eyes, "Cookies and Cream," he says after a seconds deliberation, "and I want a some too." Sunghoon laughs at that, reaching over to grab a cup of Peanut Butter for Jay, a Cookies and Cream for Heeseung, and, of course, a Coffee for himself.

"Nice," Jay says, "midnight ice cream - should we get a tub for Kei Hyung?"

"Sure, he likes matcha right?" Sunghoon asks, reaching for a big green tub right on top of the fridge.

"I'm pretty sure he's more of a green tea person," Heeseung says.

Jay and Sunghoon exchange exasperate glances. "Hyung," Sunghoon starts. "they're kind of the same thing," Jay finishes.

Heeseung blinks at them, shrugs, and walks towards the dorito shelf.

For someone so intelligent, Heeseung is, well, Heeseung.

Jay and Sunghoon glance at each other again, before bursting into peals of laughter. Sunghoon laughs with his whole body and he ends up kneeled on the floor clutching onto 3 cups and 1 tub of ice cream, his shirts going to have a wet patch by the time he's done, it's fine he's wearing Black. Jay is spurred on by Sunghoon's laughter, and it takes him dropping to the floor too, and then getting up, and then dropping the pringles can onto his foot, for the two of them to collect themselves and finally stop laughing. Sunghoon's never been good at the whole stopping part of it, so he just wipes the tears accumulating at the corner of his eyes and tries his best to hold in giggles. Jay is suddenly a quiet again, and Sunghoon shoots him a look. He's staring at the cashier, and for the first time that night Sunghoon gets a good look at him too. He's cute Sunghoon guesses, he looks about the same age as them, and he's masculine and boyish both with sharp features and sturdy bone structure, his hair is long and there's the a snapback on his head - Sunghoon can forgive it because he knows its part of the 24/7 Employee uniform - he's kind of hot, Sunghoon figures, in an _Archie-Andrews Jock-Next-Door_ kind of way.

He glances at Jay, "huh," he says, keeping his voice low so cashier-boy doesn't hear them, "that's not usually your type." Jay snorts at this, looking up at Sunghoon from the corner of his eye, "yeah no, not my type at all," he says, "but it seems like _you're_ his." Sunghoon squints at him, "what are you on about?" Jay chuckles and starts walking to where Heeseung's standing, "nothing, Princess," Jay said, Sunghoon resists the urge to smack him for using that nickname, "just that he's been staring at you for the past 12 minutes with that look people always get when they see you." Sunghoon kicks him with edge of his sneakers, "people do not "get a look" when they see me." Jay rolls his eyes as the two of them come to a stop behind Heeseung, still thoroughly analyzing the dorito shelf with the same analytical intensity in his eyes he got when Jay forced him to play chess with him. "Hyung," Jay says, "don't people usually get like, that look the first time they see Sunghoon." Sunghoon glares at him again and Heeseung hums non-commitally, "oh yeah totally, it's that _wow-I-would-do-anything-for-him-if-only-he-asked_ kinda look." Sunghoon whines, kicking Jay again ( _"Heeseung Hyung said it this time, god!"_ ), "no one does that!"

Heeseung turns around to shoot him an unimpressed look and says, "they totally do, you're just too dense to pick up on it."

"Am not!"

"Remember when Kim Sunoo from the grade below literally flirted with you for a whole year and you kept on insisting that it was "just a hyung-dongsaeng relationship" until he sent you a _literal_ love letter and a box of chocolates to your locker?" Jay says. Heeseung hums, "or when Lee Youngbin from the basketball team kept asking you to hang out, and you always thought it was a friend thing so you always dragged me along with you because I'm the only person you know that was in his grade?" He pauses, looking contemplative, eyes still trained on the dorito stand, "you know he like death-glared me like throughout senior year," he adds.

Okay fine, so _maybe_ Sunghoon's a _little_ dense about shit like this, sue him.

"Anyway," Jay concedes, spotting Sunghoon's pout and patting him on the back clumsily while trying to keep all the shit in his arms stable, "cashier-boy totally has a thing for you."

"Oh really?" Heeseung says, seeming to have finally picked out a dorito packet as he pulled out a Jalapeno from the stand, he turns back to glance at the cashier and then shrugged, "I mean he's not bad, kind of your type too?" Sunghoon glares at them, exasperated, "are you guys really going to attempt to hook me up with a 24/7 employee, at midnight, in a place 4 hours away from where i live." Heeseung and Jay glance at each other.

"Yeah, probably."

"Definitely."

Sunghoon hates everything.

The dude isn't subtle, really, which is testament to just how fucking dense Sunghoon is.

Jay's been at the sidelines of enough confessions to know that his best friend is beyond clueless about shit like that, at least in the context of himself, he teases Jay ruthlessly when it was him on the receiving end - granted, his weren't nearly as common as Sunghoon's, not that the fucker knew that. It's worse because Sunghoon isn't stupid, it would all be so much easier if he was stupid. Unfortunately, Jay knows that Sunghoon is smart as a whip, not in the same way Heeseung is - granted, he's not bad academically, even without factoring in his rigorous athletic schedule - but in a _John-Mulaney-Street-Smarts_ kind of way. He's also very aware of himself, guy knows he's pretty, he's used that fact to convince enough people to get his way with a flutter of his eyebrow or a flash of his smile, he just, somehow, can't tell when he's being flirted with

It's annoying as fuck, Jay feels bad for his future lover.

"Okay, does everyone have everything they want?" Heeseung asks. He's now got a roll of mints and a snickers bar additional to the dorito bag in his arms, Sunghoon has picked up a box of strawberry flavoured tic-tacs, and he looks like he wants to get a slushie but Sunghoon is a 7/11 Stan and Jay knows he thinks getting 24/7 Slushies is betraying them. He's strange that way. "Yup, I've got everything I wanted to get," Jay says, his arms are starting to tire, he's been holding onto a box of fruit loops (he gave up his second box because what the fuck a box of Fruitloops costs 35 dollars?), a bottle of honey, a pringles can (pizza flavour, duh), a fruit rollup, two boxes of nerds, and a redbull for good measure. "Same here," Sunghoon affirms with a nod. Heeseung hums and starts walking towards the cashier, Jay and Sunghoon follow behind him.

Anyway, back to the cashier boy.

He's kind of classically handsome in a way Jay knows Sunghoon likes - regardless or not of whether Sunghoon admits it, sharp edges and thick bone structure. He's visibly built, despite also visibly being kind of short, but you can't have it all Jay figures - he's also got his 24/7 employee snapback on backwards, which tells Jay the dude doesn't have the _best_ sense of style, but ah well, if he wants to look like a fuckboy there's very little Jay can do about it, especially considering he, um, has no idea who this dude is beyond a nametag that reads 'Jake Sim'. (Again, Sunghoon is wholly right about him not being Jay's type). He really hasn't been subtle though. His eyes have been practically glued to Sunghoon since he burst out laughing, and yeah, that does usually have this effect on people, but Cashier boy's been glancing back and forth at Jay's best friend even before that. Jay caught him in the act once about 15 minutes, and the guy turned beet red in shame the minute he and Jay locked eyes, he quickly dipped his head and looked away and Jay doesn't know whether to laugh or groan because Sunghoon's pulled in another one without doing much of anything at all.

They get to the cashier and Heeseung subtly pushes Sunghoon to the front, Sunghoon doesn't notice, too busy trying to balance everything in his arms. He sets everything down onto the counter and only then notices he's in front of his friends. He still hasn't quite picked up on what Heeseung's trying to do, midnight weighing down on his usually keen observations, and he shoots cashier boy a smile. Cashier boy visibly gulps and says, "u-uh will that be all?" Jay notices then that Heeseung has also put down all his stuff and he's still just standing there with an armful of food. "Yeah, if this one lets go of his fruit loops," Heeseung chuckles, Sunghoon lets out a little giggle and Jay picks up on the tips of the cashier's ears turning pink. He also glares at Heeseung with huff of indignation before setting down his food beside his friends'. 

Cashier boy clears his throat, "I- I haven't seen you guys around here before. This place is kinda out there, uh, as far as 24/7's go - you guys from outta town?" Heeseung nods, "kinda? We're from the suburbs, coming to meet one of our friends who lives around here - he told us there'd be a 24/7 near his place and we were kinda hungry so, well, here we are." Cashier boy perks up at that, "A friend? I may know them, we only have about 20 customer here and they're all regulars." Sunghoon perks up this time and the resolve Cashier boy had while talking to Heeseung is already crumbling a little, "Oh! His name's Kei? He's really tall, Japanese-"

"Oh shit, you guys are friends with Kei Hyung?"

_Huh, small world._

"Damn, yeah," Jay says this time, "also you're korean too, what are the chances?"

"How many people around here without asian mothers do you think would have the work ethic to take midnight 24/7 shifts?"

Sunghoon giggles again, a little louder this time, and yeah Jay can see cashier boy's confidence visibly soaring. He's also grinning straight at Sunghoon now, who's still very much giggling as well, and they catch each others' eyes and - yeah, they're both red now. _Great_. Heeseung shoots Jay a knowing smirk and Jay pretends to gag. He hates everything. Sunghoon breaks out of their little bubble first and shoots his friends a short glare, the cashier clears his throat seconds after, "I'm, uh, Jake by the way, nice to meet you guys." Heeseung smiles warmly, in that way that makes everyone feel automatically at ease, "it's good to meet you too, and I'm glad Kei Hyung is feeding himself properly around here." He follows that up with, "he is eating properly, right?"

Jay rolls his eyes, "he's 23 hyung, I'm sure he's figured life out by now-"

"Actually he mostly just survives off of beer and that chinese takeout place across the street, comes here more to buy like, snacks and rolling paper."

Heeseung groans, Sunghoon laughs again, Jay shrugs, fair enough. 

"Anyway," Jay says, "I'm Jay, and these two are Heeseung," he wraps an arm around the older, "and Sunghoon." Jake nods with a grin, his ears are still a little red Jay, notices, "cool, and uh, you're bill is $64." Heeseung whistles, "Damn, we blew $64 at a 24/7?" Sunghoon shrugs, "given that Jay's fruit loops are literally $35, I don't really know what you were expecting." Jake looks worried immediately, "Hey, I can cover for you guys if it's too much or something, or you guys can pay whatever's left later-"

"No, no, don't worry about it," Sunghoon says with a laugh, "Jay's rich, we're fine." Heeseung nods sagely, "Yeah, that's the only reason we got him here with us." Jay glares at them with more intensity than he did that 14 year old who cut in front of the three of them when they went to buy BTS concert tickets. "This entire trip was literally my idea," he all but yells, "you wouldn't be on this trip without me, I am the trip!"

Sunghoon and Heeseung exchange amused glances and, fuck, Jay knows what's coming next.

" _Resentment_." Sunghoon starts dramatically.

" _Anger_." Heeseung adds.

" _And Shame_." Sunghoon finishes, " _these were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect teenage boy_."

Heeseung picks off, " _but professor James Park accidently added an extra ingredient_ -"

Heeseung and Sunghoon look at each other, eyes gleeful, and say (in sync, the brats), " _teen angst_."

Jay all but yells, "Nah, nah, nah, _nah_ , we are _not_ doing this right now!" Heeseung and Sunghoon burst into peals of laughter, they really shouldn't at this point, they've been pulling this powerpuff-jay thing since the ninth grade - what? Jay was a bitter kid, not that he isn't bitter now, he was just worse back then. Nevertheless, Sunghoon once again collapses onto the floor and Heeseung leans over him, both of them struggling to breathe. Jake looks somewhere between worried and concerned and really Jay can't blame him. God, he wants new friends. "Uh," Jake says, "are they okay." Jay looks down at his friends, they're now collapsed over each other, Sunghoon flat on the grown with an arm thrown over his face, and Heeseung koala-d onto him, clutcthing his sides. They're both breathless with laughter. Jay looks up at Jake, dead in the eye, "they're fine," Jay says, "I, on the other hand, kinda want to die."

They leave about 15 minutes after that, Sunghoon and Heeseung collect themselves and get off the floor, Jake and Sunghoon once again exchange smiles that last just a bit too long, and Jay, the great friend that he is, makes sure to leave a piece of paper with Sunghoon's number on it on Jake's counter. Subtly, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> playlist is linked at the end of chapter 1 :)))
> 
> next chapter features: K!!


	3. bachelor pad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What?” Kei says with a grin, and begins laying out what looks like chinese food, “you think I don't know my boys?”
> 
> Sunghoon wrinkles his nose again, “never refer to us as your ‘boys’ again,” he says, “and also please pass the chopsticks.”
> 
> They eat well, and food is good - Sunghoon assumes its from the chinese place opposite the 24/7 that Jake had told them about. Conversation is good too, Kei tells them crazy stories about living alone and life in the city, his dance troupe, the 20-something party scene, the friends he's made, and Sunghoon can't stop smiling, partly because Kei can't stop smiling either, and Sunghoon hasn't seen him look this alive since he was in high school.
> 
> "Woah," Jay says, after they've consumed every single morsel of food Kei'd layed out for them, "adult life sounds pretty fucking fun." Kei laughs, they're all arranged around the coffee table, now piled high with empty plates and plastic takeout boxes, "don't get me wrong, I am pretty much having the time of my life," Kei says, "but it's not all great - I had to pay rent for the first time a while back."
> 
> Jay pretends to gag, "aaaand, the illusion is shattered, thanks a lot."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw (kinda ig???) // mentions of drugs and alcohol (listen Kei's a 20-something fresh out of college he's not going be NOT living it up you know??)

Kei's apartment is your typical bachelor pad, in that it looks like no one _should_ be living in there, even if they do.

It's a tiny place, a single bedroom with a small living room, a smaller kitchen, and a surprisingly normal sized bathroom. It's neat enough, Sunghoon figures, much cleaner then say, Jay's bedroom, it's just kind of empty and dreadfully understocked. The living room, where Sunghoon assumes the three of them are going to be spending the night, is basically just a couch and two mattresses, jazzed up with an inordinate number of pillows ( _so that's where Kei spends his budget_ ), complete with a coffee-table at the centre with a camera, a bong, and what looks like a vintage marvel comic piled on it. The kitchen is, much like the rest of his place, extremely understocked, Kei's got a couple cup-ramens, instant coffee, a single carton of milk and now a tub of matcha ice cream. That's it. He has a whole fridge and a microwave and everything too, so he can't even blame having absolutely nothing on his kitchen on that.

Jay's mom, who loves and nags all of Jay's friends as if they were her own sons, would have a meltdown over it.

Heeseung, who again bears a striking similarity to Jay's mom, _is_ having a breakdown over it.

“You live like this?” Heeseung cries out in distress - after Kei has finished hugging each of them for approximately 20 minutes each, “how are you even alive!” Kei looks the same as he always does, unfairly tall and broad, except his hair is longer now and Sunghoon doesn't know if he's seeing things but he looks distinctly happier. He shrugs, “eh, I barely spend any time in here anyway - I basically live at the dance studio at this point, this place is basically just for sleep, weekends, and parties.” Sunghoon plops himself down on the couch and feels himself sinking into the cheap material, “how many people can even party in this place?” Kei smirks down at him, walking over to ruffle his hair and making him whine in the process. “Space is kind of meaningless after you take a couple hits, Hoonie.”

Sunghoon wrinkles his nose and fixes his hair - what? Considering he'd spent almost all his free time from the age of 7 up till the end of high school skating, he'd kind of missed out on the parties and stuff, needless to say he'd never taken a _"couple of hits" -_ he has nothing against it, obviously, it's just never happened for him. Jay collapses onto one of the mattresses and Heeseung gets onto the other (Sunghoon realises he's made a grave mistake and is now going to have to use the couch, _fuck_ ). “Given the state of your kitchen,” Jay says, “I'm assuming you don't have any food for us.” Kei chuckles, disappearing into his room and emerging seconds later with two big, black takeout bags. “What?” He says with a grin, and begins laying out what looks like chinese food, “you think I don't know my boys?”

Sunghoon wrinkles his nose again, “never refer to us as your ‘boys’ again,” he says, “and also please pass the chopsticks.”

They eat well, and food is good - Sunghoon assumes its from the chinese place opposite the 24/7 that Jake had told them about. Conversation is good too, Kei tells them crazy stories about living alone and life in the city, his dance troupe, the 20-something party scene, the friends he's made, and Sunghoon can't stop smiling, partly because Kei can't stop smiling either, and Sunghoon hasn't seen him look this _alive_ since he was in high school.

"Woah," Jay says, after they've consumed every single morsel of food Kei'd layed out for them (all in all that's 6 plates of various kinds of dumplings, 2 servings of fried rice, one orange chicken and one sweet and sour pork - Sunghoon feels like he's going to burst, he doesn't really get the opportunity to pig out often, so when he does he perhaps tends to go a little overboard), "adult life sounds pretty fucking fun." Kei laughs, they're all arranged around the coffee table, now piled high with empty plates and plastic takeout boxes, "don't get me wrong, I _am_ pretty much having the time of my life," Kei says, "but it's not all great - I had to pay rent for the first time a while back."

Jay pretends to gag, " _aaaand_ , the illusion is shattered, thanks a lot."

Kei chuckles in a brotherly way for the nth time that evening, before he and Heeseung both get up to clean things out. Sunghoon's sleepy, he knows because doesn't have the will to complain when Kei pats his hair again and also because his phone says that its 3:45 a.m. Sunghoon knows that his sleepiness is visible, he's always been like this, his cheeks get puffier and his eyes get narrower, and then he yawns uncontrollably for hours on end (this has been terrible for him, since Jay has been sticking his finger into Sunghoon's mouth right as he yawns since they were 5 - 0/10, worst fucking experience of Sunghoon's life). Not too long after Heeseung and K get up to clean up (read: seconds after), Jay tackles Sunghoon into one of the mattresses and squeezes up next to him. Sunghoon lets out a laugh, although it comes out as more of a strangled inhale because Jay is half on top of him and he's half on top of Jay and air is suddenly scarce. 

"Jay, I don't think this mattress is meant for two people."

"Shut the fuck up, I didn't bring my stupid fucking side pillow with me so you're substituting."

Sunghoon sighs theatrically, or at least as theatrical as it gets when it's almost 4 a.m and he's really fucking sleepy, Jay is also really sleepy, Sunghoon knows this because Jay curses increasingly the sleepier he gets. "I guess I really am nothing more than an object to you," Sunghoon laments dramatically, "nothing but a warm body, a human pillow, who's going to be left to rot on the side of the road when we get ba-"

"It's almost 4 can you guys please go to sleep? We're leaving again by like noon tomorrow." Heeseung says, stepping back into the room with an amused looking Kei, looking decided unamused himself. Sunghoon pouts up at him, "tell Jay to stop using me as a human body pillow then." Heeseung groans, "Jay, stop using Sunghoon as a human body pillow." Jay just nuzzles closer, wrapping a leg around Sunghoons waist and and arm around his stomach, "no," he says plainly. Heeseung shrugs, "well, I tried my best." Sunghoon glares at him, "you _just_ didn't!"

Kei watches all of this play out with a grin on his face. "Man, i missed having you kids around," he says.

"Who are you calling kids!" Jay says, moving his face so it isn't squished against Sunghoon, "Heeseung Hyung and I are both 18! And Sunghoon's going to be 18 in like 3 months!" Heeseung chuckles at that, getting onto his own mattress, and throwing a blanket across the room to Jay and Sunghoon. Kei grins, "Jay, I'll stop saying your a kid when you stop using Sunghoon as a human stuffed toy." 

"No," Jay says once again, and Sunghoon groans.

Heeseung is the first to wake up. This is not expected.

Heeseung isn't a morning person - which is why they decided Jay's going to start of the drive today last night. So him being the first one up is surprising, especially considering Sunghoon's 10 times the morning person he is _and_ a light sleeper. Nevertheless, here he is. He lays in bed for well over 30 minutes, staring at the ceiling more or less brain dead. Sunghoon always calls him a zombie in the morning, Heeseung can't say he doesn't know where the younger is coming from.

His phone says it's 9:30 a.m so Heeseung's only really been asleep for a little over 5 hours, but what do you do? Sleep comes and sleep goes and there isn't really much he can do about it. He pulls himself out of bed, rubbing at his eyes and mussing his hair. Sunghoon and Jay are still very much asleep, clinging onto each other. They look like complete opposites, Heeseung thinks in amusement, Sunghoon's face is peaceful and angelic, his hair lies perfectly against his pillow, Heeseung's almost jealous. Jay, in contrast, is squished onto his stomach, half his face is smushed against the pillow, and his hair is flying in all directions, eyes half open and half closed, as they usually are when he sleeps.

They're both cute, Heeseung decides. 

He trudges over to the kitchen, where Kei's already awake and holding a cup of coffee. He grins as he sees Heeseung, reaching over and ruffling his hair. "Awake already? That's so unlike you," He says. Heeseung just nods and points at Kei's cup, "coffee... please," he groans out, voice rough with sleep. Kei chuckles and gets to work on Heeseung's coffee, Heeseung wrinkles his nose noticing Kei's box of cheap, instant coffee powder - what? He knows Kei's on a budget but he likes his coffee goddamnit, especially in the morning.

Kei, unlike Heeseung, is decidedly a morning person, he hums as he makes Heeseung his coffee, smiling through it. It's almost jarring, Heeseung hasn't seen Kei this happy in a while. He'd been transparent about his hatred of community college throughout his time there. Given that Heeseung had basically done nothing throughout his gap year - partly because of the whole gap year thing and mostly because Jay and Sunghoon were both busy with senior year and (at least in Sunghoon's case) their careers - Heeseung had spent a lot of time with Kei in his last year of college, before he'd moved to the city. Kei would show up at his doorstep with cans of cheap beer and they'd walk to the skate park. Kei would tell Heeseung about his plans to run away to the city, and pursue dance, and potentially give his mother a heart attack in the process. Kei hands Heeseung his coffee and Heeseung's right, it tastes like instant coffee. _Shitty_ , instant coffee. He wrinkles his nose but proceeds to drink it anyway, not bothering with formalities because, well, it's Kei.

"You look good, by the way," he says, once the first hit of caffeine has washed over him, 'happier."

Kei laughs, "I am," he says brightly, "mom doesn't talk to me without lecturing me first but I think she's adjusting, honestly don't care all that much anymore. It bothered me in the beginning, but now I'm really too happy to complain. I'm enjoying life too much." The coffee, as bad as it is, breathes life into Heeseung with every sip, and by the time he reaches the end of the cup he's considerably less, um, zombie-like. Which means that when he smiles at Kei, it doesn't look like he'd rather murder him instead. 

"What about you," Kei says, "still heading off to Korea come September."

"That's the plan," Heeseung says with a nod, setting down his coffee cup.

"And the kids?" Kei asks with a chuckle, pointing towards the living room where Heeseung can still here Jay's and Sunghoon's soft breathing. "Sunghoon's heading of to California on a sports scholarship, I think it includes basically his entire tuition thanks to the ice-skating." Heeseung says. Kei nods sagely, looking somewhere between proud and apprehensive, "being a nationally ranked athlete while managing to somehow keep a 4.1 grade average will do that for you," he says with chuckle, "it's what my mom always wanted for me - didn't really work out," he gestures around himself, "as you can see." Heeseung shrugs, and Kei just continues grinning.

"And Jay?" Kei asks.

"Ivy League, following in his dad's footsteps, wants to take over the company and what not."

Kei whistles, "woah," he says, grin sly, "has he got the grades for that?"

Heeseung laughs, Jay'd never given too many fucks about his grades, he didn't do badly, but they weren't quite the best of the best. "I don't think he's aiming for a Yale or a Harvard, one of the more chill ones. Dartmouth or Cornell or something - I don't think he really knows what he wants to do, so he's mostly just going along with whatever his dad says. He's a low a - b student, he should be fine."

Kei shrugs, "with his dad's connections he'll probably be much, much, more than fine - just hope he isn't following along blindly." 

Kei fixes Heeseung with a look, smile lessening, "and you? Still sure about pursuing academics huh." Heeseung winces, he knows what Kei's referring too, and it's a part of him he tries not to think about too much, his music, he's worked too hard at getting into NSU to even entertain the notion. "Yup," Heeseung says, trying his best to keep his tone severe and final, "worked this hard to get in, I don't think anything could change my mind at this point."

Kei nods, narrowing his eyes a little, before letting out a sigh and smiling again, "Seoul National University," he says with a whistle, seeming to have dropped their earlier topic, "10% admittance rate," he says, "I'd say good luck but I don't think it'd be sufficient." Heeseung chuckles, "Thanks." Kei grins, "Your welcome."

Heeseung gets up, stretching his arms over his head. "What time is it?" he says through a yawn. Kei checks his phone, "Almost 10," he says, reaching over to grab both his and Heeseung's cup before dropping them into his sink, "we should wake those two up," he says, extending a thumb towards the living room's direction, "I'm assuming they still have the same morning beverage preferences." Heeseung nods, "plain milk for Sunghoon, cold, and anything for Jay as long as it has sugar in it." Kei laughs with a shake of his head, "literal children," he says under his breath. "Tell me about it," Heeseung replies. Kei rolls his eyes, smacking the back of Heeseung's head, "don't act like Jay isn't closer to your age than he is Sunghoon's." Heeseung whines, swatting as Kei's arm, "don't remind me, I try not to think about it." Kei laughs, and Heeseung trudges back to the living room.

Heeseung leers over his two best friend, unsure about whether he should wake them up nicely or not. Then he gets flashbacks to two weeks ago when the two of them woke him up by rapping Daechwita by BTS' Suga very badly and very, _very_ loudly, at 7 a.m in the morning, decides to say _fuck it_ , and yells, " **YAH, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, WAKE THE FUCK UP**!"

Jay wakes up with a start, eye blowing wide and arms flailing. He smacks Sunghoon's face in the process, prompting the younger to also wake up with a start, and he eventually ends up kicking Jay in half-asleep rage - Heeseung doesn't know whether it's for waking him up, hitting him, or waking him up _by_ hitting him, but he's far too amused to care. Heeseung burst into laughter, clutching his stomach, his morning haze long forgotten after coffee and watching Sunghoon and Jay _struggle_.

Kei walks in with two cups in his hands, and an expression that could range from anywhere between deeply concerned to thoroughly amused. Sunghoon gets up first, sitting up in bed and bunching the blanket around himself, leaving Jay defenseless against the cold air from the AC above them.

"Just to clarify," Jay says, voice groggy, curling him on himself to protect himself against the cold, "I'm beauty, right?"

Sunghoon glares at him sleepily, face puffy in a way that makes him look younger, "in your dreams."

Heeseung laughs again, collapsing onto the mattress this time, pulling Sunghoon down with him until the two of them land squarely on top of Jay. In response - or pain, Heeseung isn't sure -Jay lets out a scream of indignation, "Yah!" He yells, "Get them off me! Please, _fuck_ , get them off _meeee_!" He stretches the last word for well over 10 seconds, and he only stops when Kei lands on top of the three of them as well. Jay yells again instead, something about betrayal and how he'll get them for this.

Heeseung is far too immersed in his laughter to care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapters a bit shorter than the last one but whatever asdfghjkl i-land ends in less than a week how yall doing??
> 
> Also this chapter a little less yk crack-fic as the rest and that’s probably going to be a trend going forward, I’m still going to try my best to keep this thing funny and whatnot but going forward I’m probably going to go more in depth into the boys personalities (in this fic) and the toll that growing up and what not is really taking on them and ultimately this thing is going to be a little bittersweet.
> 
> Anyway, next chapter features: Jungwon + a lil bit of Seon!


	4. cousin dearest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The minute they step in past the gates a boy comes running out the house, hand holding three boxes of and struggling to do so. They pile up high over his face, to the point where Heeseung can only really make out strands of fluffy hair and the oversized hoodie that engulfs the holders frame. He's yelling, probably to someone inside. "Hyung," he calls, walking steadily towards Heeseung, Jay and Sunghoon, seemingly unaware of their presence, "this is the last set of boxes right?" A voice from inside, lower and distinctly older, starts to yell something back when, from next to Heeseung, Jay lets out an ear-splitting, "Jungwon-ie!"
> 
> The boy freezes and a head peeks out from beside the boxes. "Jay Hyung?" The boy says, before quickly - and carefully, Heeseung notes, slightly impressed given the speed of it all - sets the boxes down beside him and runs to Jay with open arms. Jay runs too, throwing his own stuff to the ground with nowhere near as much care as the kis.
> 
> They rush to each other with excitement and when they finally make contact, Jay hoists the kid up into the air. The kid screams in response, "Jay Hyung! Jay Hyung! Jay Hyung! Put me down-"

"How far are we now," Sunghoon asks leaning forward from the backseat into Jay and Heeseung's space. As they'd decided, Jay's driving, eyes - thankfully - focused on the road in steady concentration, more in a need to prove how good a driver he is than any actual regard for their safety. Heeseung's taken up directions duty, knowing full well that Sunghoon and Jay would definitely get into some sort of petty argument if he left the job of both driving _and_ navigating to the two of them - and he's not willing to take that risk.

"According to Jay's cousins directions we're only about 15 minutes away," Heeseung says, looking up from his phone. Google maps says roads are pretty empty, thank god, because they've been on the road for a while now and Heeseung doesn't know how much longer he can take Jay's driving. Yes, he's concentrated, and his eyes are on the road - again, _thank god_ , but the man drives at the speed of light one second and as slow as a snail the next, and don't even get Heeseung started on his turns, _god_.

Anyway, they've been on the road for about 5 hours now, and Heeseung is kind of reaching his limit.

They're on their way to a bread and breakfast owned by Jay's aunt and her family, going by the website Heeseung had checked out before they started their trip, it looked like a nice cozy little place, very different from the massive hotels Jay's dad had peppered all over the country. The clock at the front of his car reads 7:15 - they were supposed to reach the place by 6-ish, but that had been according to their _we'll-leave-Kei's-apartment-at-noon_ agenda and they'd only actually left around quarter to 2 (this was mostly Kei's fault for insisting that he take them to his favorite korean barbecue place in the city before they leave - and party their own fault, because turning down korean barbecue anywhere, anytime was _hard_ ).

"Why does your cousin work at a b&b, anyway?" Sunghoon says, "you're family is kinda rich as fuck."

"Mom's side," Jay says plainly, eyes still steady on the road, _thank god,_ "it's an old place, they've been running it for ages, like, my mom grew up in there. It's kinda tradition you know? My mom left to stay with my dad and all, but Jungwon - my cousin - and his parents live and manage the place since Halmeoni retired to go travel the world."

Sunghoon shakes his head at the back, "coolest grandma ever," he says under his breath, "how'd you end up this way?" 

"Hey! I heard that-"

"Focus on the road!" Heeseung all but yells. There will be not fighting, not while he's _"trusting"_ Jay with his baby. 

He does _not_ trust Jay with his baby.

Heeseung does however, agree with Sunghoon's sentiment of Jay's grandma being the coolest grandma ever. She's like 67 and tours the world with a biker gang of her friends (Jay calls them the Grang - Gran Gang, yeah, it's not good, Heeseung doesn't like it), all in all, yeah, she's kind of cool as all hell. Sunghoon is also right about her being considerably cooler than Jay - what? Jay can wear his bucket hats and his chains, but Heeseung's known him too long and has seen him embarrass himself too many times for Jay to maintain any facade of coolness.

Jay turns a corner and suddenly the scenery shifts, the city channels into a narrow street, shady and covered it trees. It's about a 5 times quieter than the street they were just on, with houses lined up neatly, complete red-roofs and stained windows. It looks like an older part of town, Heeseung notes, and as the edge towards the very end of the street Heeseung sees it - it's a traditional korean building, the kind he sees all the time in Incheon when he visits his grandparents, with curvy, sloping roofs and wooden sliding doors leading into small wooden rooms with tall, curtained, windows. There's a marked sense of otherness to it, and it stands out distinctly against the traditional, suburban, american houses that surround it. By the entrance there's a small sign that reads "Yang's Hanok" - according to Heeseung's admittedly not perfect, but still fairly solid korean skills, it translates to Yang's House.

Sunghoon gasps, "oh my god, it's so cute!"

Heeseung raises a brow, "didn't you look at the pictures I sent you?"

Sunghoon shrugs, looking excitedly through the window like a little kid driving into disneyland for the first time. Heeseung laughs, but he can't help but agree, there's a charm to the place that feels so, so familiar but he barely really gets to see. It's like being in korea again, not that Heeseung has ever actually lived there, or in a house like this one, but his ancestors sure had and there's a magic to that. Jay parks by the b&b and the three of them quickly grab their overnight bags, and start to head inside. The gates are heavy and made of wrought iron, but Jay insists on opening them himself, he manages after a little effort and the three of them step inside, Heeseung smiles as he gets a better look at the place, inhaling its scent of grass and sandalwood.

The minute they step in past the gates a boy comes running out the house, hand holding three boxes of, uh, something, and struggling to do so. They pile up high over his face, to the point where Heeseung can only really make out strands of fluffy black hair and the oversized hoodie that engulfs the holders frame. He's yelling, probably to someone inside. "Hyung," he calls, walking steadily towards Heeseung, Jay and Sunghoon, seemingly unaware of their presence, "this is the last set of boxes right?" His voice is smooth and high, and it's got a quality to it that Heeseung can't really place. A voice from inside, lower and distinctly older, starts to yell something back when, from next to Heeseung, Jay lets out an ear-splitting, "Jungwon-ie!"

The boy freezes, and then a head peeks out from beside the boxes. The kid is, quite frankly, adorable, with fluffy hair and big, long eyes and small features, Heeseung immediately wants to put him inside his pocket. "Jay Hyung?" The boy says, before quickly - and carefully, Heeseung notes, slightly impressed given the speed of it all - sets the boxes down beside him and runs to Jay with open arms. Jay runs too, throwing his own stuff to the ground with nowhere near as much care as the kid.

They rush to each other with excitement and when they finally make contact, Jay hoists the kid up into the air (a habit of his Heeseung has seen and been privy to all too often). The kid screams in response, " _Jay Hyung! Jay Hyung! Jay Hyung! Put me down_ -"

"What's going on?"

A new man walks out, tall and intimidating, with sharp features and fierce eyes. He eyes Sunghoon and Heeseung with a raised brow, and Heeseung gulps audibly. Sunghoon sniggers a bit, but straightens out when the man narrows his eyes at the two of them. "Seon Hyung!" The kid - Jungwon, Jay's cousin, Heeseung notes - says, "Jay Hyung's here!" The man - Seon, Heeseung notes once again - visibly deflates, eyes drifting over to Jay. He's still at the doorway and he makes no move indicating he's going to come outside and meet them, but he raises a hand and waves.

"Hey Jay!"

"Hey Seon Hyung - it's been a while, how are you?"

"Good! We'll talk more inside - Jungwon, just drop off the boxes by the gate and then show Jay and his friends in, yeah?"

Jungwon nods purposefully, picking up the boxes with renewed abandon, "yes, hyung," he says determinedly. Jay waves them over and Sunghoon and Heeseung exchange glances before following after Jay as Jungwon rushes by, rests the boxes right where Heeseung and Sunghoon were standing, and then bounds back to the three of them. "Okay Jungwon-ie, these are Heeseung Hyung and Sunghoon," Jay says, gesturing to the two of them as he calls out their names, Heeseung grins down at the kid and from the corner of his eye he notices Sunghoon smiling at him too. Jungwon grins back, wide and toothy. "And Hyung, Sunghoon, this is my baby cousin, Wonie." Jungwon frowns, " _Hyung_!" He whines, "I'm not a baby anymore - stop calling me that!"

"You're sixteen, therefore you are, in fact a child."

"You're only two years older-"

"Tut tut tut- child."

Jungwon rolls his eyes, "fine," he concedes, pouting still. Jay pulls his cheek making him whine once again and says, "come one, let's go in before Seon Hyung yells again."

Jay can't believe his own family already like his friends more than him.

Okay, well, maybe this isn't completely true, but Jungwon isn't looking at _him_ with awe and wonder and stars in his eyes - granted _he_ isn't the one detailing his experience at international figure skating competitions ( _Sunghoon_ ), or the talking about his university journey and how he's leaving for Korea ( _Heeseung_ ), or even the one spilling embarrassing stories of Jay ( _both of them_ ).

Either way, after Jungwon had stored away the boxes, Jay, Sunghoon and Heeseung were seated with Jungwon and Aunty Yang in the dining room while they waited for their room to be prepared, and both of them - Jungwon and Jungwon's mom - looked thoroughly hypnotized by Jay's friends. Jungwon was looking at Sunghoon in awe, asking for more figure skating stories, and Aunty Yang was engaged in conversation with Heeseung regarding his academic pursuits. Jay sat at the middle of it all, occasionally jabbing into conversations, and being jabbed at by his friends.

"And then - okay so we have this thing we do with Jay," Heeseung had said somewhere in the middle of their conversation, through gasps of air and held back laughter all while successfully switching the conversation topic to Jay and his worst moments, "where we basically call him a powerpuff girl." The conversation had eventually ended with Sunghoon beginning to recount one of Jay's experiences with an ex - something both Jungwon and Jungwon's mom had seemed thoroughly excited to hear - and Jay going, "yeah no, maybe let's not do that," while slapping a hand over Sunghoon's mouth for good measure. They get their room not too long after and Jay sighs in relief, pulling his friends away from his family.

"Wah, Hyung, you're friends are so cool!" Jungwon says later, Heeseung and Sunghoon are still in their shared room but Jay's come out to spend some time with his baby cousin - who, regardless of what he says, is in fact baby. 

"Trust me, they're really not," Jay argues with a frown, but proceeds to wrap an arm around Jungwon's shoulders anyway.

"Everyone says that about their own friends, Hyung."

"Yah, don't be a smart-ass!"

Jungwon bursts into giggles and Jay smiles. He adores his family, he really does, and he doesn't get to see this part of it too often - he's much more involved with his dad's side, where all the business-y stuff happens, regardless of how much he, admittedly, far prefers this side of his family. Jay ruffles Jungwon's hair, "what's been up with you then, Wonie?" He says, "still doing your taekwondo, I'm sure." Jungwon nods up at him, smile toothy, "Uh huh - I'm a black belt now!“ Jay whistles, impressed, "you don't say."

Jungwon nods, closing his eyes, "I could totally kick your ass now hyung."

"Yeah, let's not test that maybe."

"Chicken."

"Hey!" Jay says in faux rage, fixing his cousin in a headlock which only prompts said cousin to laugh even harder. Jay grins, letting Jungwon go and wrapping his arm around his shoulders again. "And what about school - another two years left?" Jungwon nods, "uh-huh," he says, "eomma wants me to start figuring out what I want to do in college now." Jay shrugs, "if it's any consolation, I've already graduated and I still don't really know what I want to do." Jungwon raises a brow, "really?" Jay nods, "uh-huh," he says, "I'm kinda just going with what dad recommends at this point, figure I can change my major once and get there - if I want to at least."

Jungwon shoots Jay a look and Jay chooses to shrug it off because he's been getting it a lot lately. Kei had given him the same one before they left, after uttering the words, “do think about what you really want to do, got it Jay?" And both Heeseung and Sunghoon, as well as their other close friends from high school, had been shooting him the look since they'd started sending out their college applications. Look, it wasn't Jay's fault. He's not Sunghoon, who's known what he wanted to do since he was fucking 6. Or Heeseung for that matter, who's always been so inexplicably good at what he's good at that his career path has pretty much been laid out since he discovered his penchant for academia. Jay is neither of those things, he has his likes and his dislikes, and he has his interests and his disinterests, but, everything's kinda just, well, fuzzy.

"Dinner!" Seon calls out, and Jay is broken from his thoughts as Jungwon grabs onto his sleeve and says, "come on Jay-Hyung! Let's call Sunghoon Hyung and Heeseung Hyung!"

Jay grins and follows after him.

Dinner is healthy, nostalgic and, well, traditionally korean, as it always is at "Yang's Hanok". Jay has been coming here since before he could talk, and the expanse of side dishes placed delicately around a giant pot of bibimbap is all too familiar. It's also, again - as it always is - absolutely delicious. Jay's mom is a great cook, incredible even, but the mixture of the vegetables that Aunty Yang grows outback at the b&b, mixed with the atmosphere down here that no other place Jay’s been to has ever really been able to replicate, is pretty much the pinnacle of a good dining experience, at least in Jay's opinion.

There aren't too many guests at the house right now - aside from the three of them, Seon Hyung, and Jay's family. Jay can only really see what looks like a young married couple and a middle aged businessman typing away on a clunky laptop. Regardless, the atmosphere is nice. The three of them eat with Jungwon and his parents, and Jay can tell that Heeseung and Sunghoon enjoy their food just as much as Jay does - he can also tell that Aunty Yang is enjoying them enjoying their food as much as they’re enjoying the food itself, given the way she coos at Sunghoon's full cheeks and encourages Heeseung to take his fifth helping of bibimbap.

Somewhere in the middle of their meal Seon joins them, and Jay hadn't anticipated how much he missed the man.

Seon's an interesting part of Jay's life, he'd grown up near the b&b and eventually ended up working and managing the place using his hospitality degree from a nearby college. He’s a contradiction of sorts, tall and grand in appearance, with chiseled features and strong eyes, but here he was, working _just_ over minimum wage, at a b&b he'd grown up living across from. He’s also a kind man, despite how he sometimes comes across, and he's been a big brother to Jay for as long as he's been coming to the b&b, which is practically forever. The fact that there's only really 4 years between them has never quite sat right with Jay, given that Seon is clearly wise beyond his years.

They finish dinner with even more embarrassing stories on Jay's part - including an added list of tales from Aunty and Uncle Yang about 2 year old Jay's pursuits around the b&b. The laughter is constant, and Jay eventually gives in and laughs too (only after Aunty and Uncle have sprinkled in a few of Jungwon's stories as well, and after he's spilled on Heeseung and Sunghoon - including recounting _the 7/11 Incident_ much to Sunghoon horror and embarrassment).

When they're done Heeseung and Sunghoon both crash pretty instantly - ironic, because Jay had been the one driving. Either way, the two of them collapse together onto the roll out mattresses they use at the b&b, and since Heeseung doesn't have a side pillow with him this time, he uses Sunghoon as a substitute - who's already far too out of it to complain about being reduced to a pillow for the second night in a row. 

Jay, on the other hand, is restless.

The b&b perhaps brings it out of him, memories engraved onto every corner of its structure. Jay thinks about the place more often than he'd like it to admit, especially given how he's stayed at places far far more luxurious and expensive - and, in fact, lives in one. The b&b is different though, Jay's own dad looks at it as if it's something quaint, Jay disagrees. The b&b, unlike so many of the places Jay had been to, felt alive, with life and family and history and - well, Jay didn't know, but it felt like a lot more real than the glossy, overexposed hotels he was all too accustomed with.

"You look angry-"

"Fuck! Hyung you scared me!"

Seon laughs, coming over to stand next to Jay at the edge of the railings of the corridors that intertwined the rooms, "given my experience, that's never been particularly hard.” The wooden railing is cold against Jay's fingertips, as opposed to the warmth Seon beings along with him as they stand besides each other. "Oh ha ha ha," Jay says sarcastically, eventually moving to wrap an arm around Seon - with some difficulty, given Seon is definitively taller than him, and most people, for that matter, "I'm really not that bad." Seon hums noncommittally, leaning forward onto the railings and making it easier for Jay to rest his arm around him in the process. "Jungwon's worried about you," the older says, eyes still trained into the distance. Jay glances at his Hyung before looking into the distance as well, "it seems a lot of people are," he says, sincerely because, well, it's true. Again - Jay has been getting a lot of _the look_ lately. Seon chuckles, "fair enough, I guess," he says, before moving his head to look at Jay, "but I'm really not."

"Yeah?" Jay asks, surprised, Jay would've assumed Seon with his detail-oriented, methodological mindset would have been the most worried about Jay's lack of direction, "how come?" Seon laughs again, reaching over to ruffle Jay's hair - Jay suddenly gets where Jungwon is coming from everytime he whines when Jay does the same. "I don't really know, to be honest," Seon says, pulling his hand away, "you've just got this fire to you, you've always had it, I just can't see anything holding you back from what you're really supposed to do - including yourself," he pauses to think for a while, "even if you don't know what the things _"you're really supposed to do"_ is." He adds as an afterthought. 

"That's dreadfully vague."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

They're quite for a while, and Jay stares out into the open space he's so familiar with, the roses Halmeoni planted before she set of to tour the world with her friends glisten under the moonlight, and the bonsai trees Uncle Yang brought over from one of his trips to Japan lie cutedly around the entrance. Jay can't help but smile - as little of Seon's monologue as he understood, he can't say it didn't make him happy, or give him the slightest, teensy-tiniest bit of hope.

"Say," Jay starts, "should I be concerned that I've got 16 year olds worrying over me?"

Seon laughs at that, loud and hearty against the cicada-infested night.

"Yeah, I'd say the concern is justified."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter took a little longer than usual but yk how last friday went 🙃  
> anyway, given that I have no idea when we're going to see the rest of the boys again, i really hope that this fic can act as a tribute to the show and all the boys that were a part of it 🥺
> 
> next chapter features: nichobin!!!


	5. an old friend and his new boyfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunghoon and Heeseung just stare at Jay blankly as he pulls himself out of the car and marches forward, spotting the car that almost hit them - and it's two presumable inhabitants, who stand beside it idly. One tall and one short, hand in hand, they've got caps and beanies pulled low on their faces, so Jay can't make out much about them from here. Regardless, He surges forward, yelling out, "hey asshole! You almost ran me and my friends over just no- wait!"
> 
> Now there's a face he hasn't seen in a while.
> 
> "Nicholas?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more jakehoon this chapter PLUS a healthy dose of nichobin because I miss them :((

They leave early the next morning, getting up and ready at 6, and making their goodbyes by 7.

Jay hugs his family as hard as he can and they do the same for him, and before they leave Aunty Yang gives him a box of gimbap for the way, Seon gives him one last mini-lecture, and Jungwon one last bone-crushing hug, and, yeah, Jay might just cry. Both Jay and Sunghoon are morning people, so - just until lunch, or so he says - Heeseung agrees to let them both drive and navigate until he's out of his "morning-zombie" state. Sunghoon ends up navigating again, because Heeseung doesn't want him driving when he's not up since he's only got a learner's permit right now. Sunghoon complains about how he's probably a better driver than Jay - which is _definitely_ not true, Jay is a _fantastic_ driver, thank you very much.

It's 7 a.m, so the sun is still very much in the process of rising, bathing the car in a thin golden light that even Sunghoon's pitch black hair can't fully absorb. Heeseung's practically asleep behind them in the backseat, although it looks like he's trying to fight it, head lolling against the window and then shooting up in realisation, before lolling back 2 minutes later. Sunghoon's humming, shuffling through [his morning playlist,](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ggR8Y9crqr3CkG5A2Jr0l?si=LOv_nzT3RaiRb2mq9iOb-A) the music playing softly through the cars sound system (Jay concedes his music dominion because even _he_ doesn't want to listen to phineas and ferb and j.cole right about now). He's also typing away on his phone, probably texting someone. He occasionally lets out a giggle or checks on google maps, Jay doesn't know who he's texting at 7 in the morning but at least he looks like he's enjoying himself.

They're driving to their first actual hotel rest stop tonight, and it's a long way off, so chances are their going to be stopping a solid 9-10 times, given how restless all three of them can get. Their first stop is about 2 hours away, a diner at a not-so-nearby gas station that Seon had recommended, since they'd only had minimal breakfast and Heeseung had yet to have his coffee - Jay's kinda glad he's asleep.

The only thing worse than morning-Heeseung is morning-Heeseung before he's had his coffee.

The road is pretty straight forward, after they get off the twist of roads leading to the guest house - which Jay, luckily, knows completely by heart - the route to the diner at least is just along the highway, which is right on the way to the hotel they'd be staying at for the night. Jay let's himself get lost in the road, something which is a hell of a lot easier without Heeseung emanating anxiety from beside him, Sunghoon's a lot more chill that way. 

The three of them stay in their comfortable silence, soft music - as not to wake Heeseung up - lofting around the car and in and out of Jay's ears, accompanied by Sunghoon's humming, and eventually Jay's as well. Eventually Jay gets hungry again, and him and Sunghoon share his aunt's kimbap - leaving some for Heeseung too, of course. The sun rises higher, until the sheen of gold brightens to a near-blinding white. Heeseung stirs only then, around 8:35, blinking at the light coming in through the window his head was rested upon.

"How long was I out?" He asks, voice rough with sleep.

Sunghoon laughs, bright and airy in comparison, "just a little over an hour and a half."

Heeseung groans, stretching his arms over his head and working out a crick in his neck, "so it's what, 8:30?" Jay hums in acknowledgement, "8:35 to be exact," he says. "Google maps says the diners only about 20 minutes away," Sunghoon adds, "and yes, before you ask, we saved you some kimbap." Heeseung mutters out a thanks, voice still heavy with sleep, and asks Sunghoon to hand over the food. Sunghoon obliges, before going back to typing away on his phone. "Are you texting someone?" Heeseung asks, and Jay sees him attempt to pull himself up taller and peak into Sunghoon's phone. This is a futile effort, because simply at the mention of texting someone Sunghoon snaps his phone shut and Jay notices that the ends of his ears are already red. He narrows his eyes, he knows Sunghoon far too well, and while the boy doesn't fall often, when he does, he's always uber-secretive (and terribly so) about it.

"Oh my god," Heeseung exclaims, "you're _so_ texting someone."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sunghoon says primly, eyes trained straight ahead and ears still crimson.

"Right," Jay says, sarcastically, "and your ears aren't the same colour as Heeseung Hyung's hoodie either." (It's an iconic hoodie, okay? This bright pink monstrosity that him and Heeseung had distressed together when Heeseung first got it as a hand-me down from his brother. There was a big ass hole at the back, right in the middle. Some of Jay's best work.) Sunghoon slaps his palms over his ears and repeats, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Jay scoffs, and then catches Heeseung's eyes in the rearview window. Heeseung's smirking at him, a knowing glint in his eye, and a light-bulb suddenly goes off in Jay's head.

He grins at Sunghoon and from the corner of his eyes notices the younger narrowing his eyes at him suspiciously.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with with _the 24/7 incident_ would it?"

Sunghoon's ears turn an even bright shade of crimson, and Heeseung laughs out loud. "Oh my god!" He all but yells, "Jake The 24/7 Guy!" He cheers, _'Jake The 24/7 Guy'_ being what they'd dubbed the poor dude, post his interaction with Sunghoon on the first night of their trip, "you're actually texting him? How'd you even get his number?" Sunghoon groans out loud, burrowing himself into his oversized white hoodie and tucking his face into his arms. Jay laughs, "I gave him Hoonie's number on the first night," he cuts in, and Sunghoon shoots up, "it was you? I though Kei Hyung gave it to him!" Jay just winks back in return and Sunghoon pouts, swatting a sweatered hand on Jay's shoulder uselessly.

"Oh?" Heeseung says, "so you admit you've been texting Jake The 24/7 Guy?"

"Ugh!" Sunghoon all but yells, throwing his arms into the air and then crossing them over his chest, as he sulks and looks out of the window.

Heeseung and Jay chuckle before dropping the subject once again, Jay loves making fun of Sunghoon, truly it is one of the greatest joys of his life, but he knows full well that the consequences of pushing the younger too far are disastrous and he'd really rather not walk down that path - especially while he's driving. This is mostly because conversations like these set Sunghoon off into an obsessive-compulsive storm of over thinking and self sabotage that Jay really doesn't need right now. Again, he loves making fun of Sunghoon, unfortunately, he also loves Sunghoon, and hates the side effects his perfectionist, over-contemplative tendencies have on these aspects of his life.

They settle into silence for a bit, and it's comfortable because, well, it's them. They're comfortable even when they're angry or yelling at and over each other - Jay kind of loves that about them too. Sunghoon's music lulls them into a peaceful haze as Jay drives onwards, Heeseung stretches himself out at the back, laying down as much as he can with all 179 centimeters of himself, Sunghoon unclenches, removing his arms from over his chest and settling his tense features into a calm gaze as he stares out the window.

Things remain peaceful for a while, a solid 20 minutes.

Until Jay finally finds the diner, turns in, and some asshole who can't drive misses hitting them by one (1) centimeter. 

Jay has to slam the breaks and jolt the car to a halt, sending Heeseung hurtling towards the back of Sunghoon's chair, and making Sunghoon bang his head against the window in a way that looks - and sounds - very painful in the process. Jay would laugh, because he does love seeing his friends suffer this way, except Jay's heart is beating a 100 miles an hour because he _deadass almost died_ and he really wants to give this fuck of a driver a piece of his mind. "W-What just happened?" Sunghoon slurs, hand grasping the side of his face that hit the window. Heeseung, who's somehow ended up on the car floor, says, "I can't feel my... everything." Jay, who seams to be the only one not halfway concussed (jokes, they're fine, just disoriented, he can't blame them), says, "some asshole who can't drive almost backed into us and I'm going to give them a piece of my mind."

Sunghoon and Heeseung just stare at him blankly as he pulls himself out of the car and marches forward, spotting the car that almost hit them - and it's two presumable inhabitants, who stand beside it idly. One tall and one short, hand in hand, they've got caps and beanies pulled low on their faces, so Jay can't make out much about them from here. Regardless, He surges forward anyway, yelling out, "hey asshole! You almost ran me and my friends over just no- _wait!_ "

_Now there's a face he hasn't seen in a while._

"Nicholas?"

Sunghoon hasn't seen Wang Yixiang, or Nicholas as his english name goes, since the 8th grade.

He doesn't look all that different now, he's still tall and masculine and admittedly kind of hot, with sharp features and strong bone structure. He still has that glint in his eye, something mischievous and rebellious, as if at any moment he was armed and ready to set something on fire. He's taller now, and the features are even sharper than before, but that glint in his eyes remains exactly the same as it did back in middle school, when him and Jay used to prank people every week (often times Sunghoon) and get sent to middle school detention together. They'd been really good friends, the three of them, along with a couple of their other classmates. They hadn't stayed in touch much though, with Nicholas's family moving to a different suburb hours away from their own right before they were set to start high school. Jay had cried like a baby the day they saw Nicholas off, even if he'd fully deny it now.

Either way, it's been a long, long, time since he'd last seen Nicholas, all of High School in fact. They follow each other on instagram, and occasionally Sunghoon sees him and Jay commenting fire emoji's on each others mirror selfies (they've always been like that, the two of them, similar in exactly the parts of their persona's that Sunghoon cringes at the most). Nevertheless, when he'd woken up this morning the last thing he'd expected was to be eating breakfast at a petrol pump diner, opposite Nicholas Wang and his supposed boyfriend (Nicholas had proudly introduced him as "Hanbin! My boyfriend! He's a 2nd year in college!" and Jay had bro hugged him for the nth time in the 10 minutes since they'd met).

Nevertheless, here they are: Jay, Sunghoon and Heeseung pressed against each other on one side of the booth, with Nicholas and his boyfriend opposite them, and an array of waffles and pancakes, accompanied by 3 coffees, 1 milk tea, and a disgustingly sweet strawberry milkshake ( _Jay's order, of course_ ) between them - not to mention a plate of "breakfast fries" because, well, why not?

Speaking of Nicholas's boyfriend, Sunghoon already likes the guy - they'd gotten to know him after Jay, Nicholas and Sunghoon had finished hugging each other, Jay and Sunghoon had introduced the couple to Heeseung, and Nicholas had done the same for his boyfriend. Hanbin is short but very pretty, with big eyes and surprisingly strong arms, a crown of pink hair on his head and a warm smile on his face. He's a dancer apparently, works at a local dance studio in the city where Nicholas lives just a 30 minute driver from the diner, and somewhere in the back of his mind Sunghoon makes a mental note to get him and Kei in touch.

"What brings you guys here though?" Nicholas asks, through a mouthful of waffles with fruit and ice cream - Sunghoon notices that Nicholas still has the habit of only picking up the fruits he likes - read: mango, only mango - and shoving the rest to the corner of his plate.

"Road trip!" Jay hollers, making a nearby waitress (who's very obviously hungover) shoot them a dirty look.

"Road trip," Jay whispers this time, shooting the waitress a nervous glance, "we thought we'd do something fun before we headed off to college, you know?"

"Sick," Nicholas says, nodding sagely, "where you all heading?"

Sunghoon shrugs, "I'm going to be in California," he says, "Heeseung Hyung's off to Korea soon and Jay has absolutely no idea - but for sure an Ivy League." Jay nods through a mouthful of chocolate chip pancakes, and Sunghoon giggles at the moustache of chocolate that's formed over his lips. "Whav abvouth thu?" Jay asks, and Nicholas, who even after all these year is well equipped with the skill of understanding Jay with food in his mouth, just shrugs. "Hanbin attends a pretty good liberal arts school in our city so I'm probably going to head there as well," he says, wrapping an arm around his boyfriends shoulder, who in turn just smiles at them shyly, "I don't really wanna pursue academics or anything though, like, Hanbin Hyung does Philosophy because it's a pretty chill course there and that way he can continue his dancing too."

Hanbin raises a hand, "okay the course in only chill in relative," he says, swatting harmlessly at his boyfriend, "and you only want to do it because it lines up with your I-smoke-weed-and-breakdance-and-skateboard aesthetic."

Sunghoon laughs at that, "that explains the marijuana socks," he says, and the five of them all burst into laughter. 

"You're gonna continue skating in california, I hope," Nicholas adds, Hanbin starts at that, straightening himself up a little, "oh that's where I recognized you from! Nicholas shows me your skating videos all the time, you're insane!" Sunghoon ducks his head down with a thanks, he's never been to great with compliments, they make him all awkward - it's not his fault okay, he's used to harsh criticism and constant perfectionism from his coach and his mom and especially himself, so compliments almost make him feel icky (his therapist, a.k.a Jay because Sunghoon refuses to see a real one because he insists he doesn't need to, says that's something to look into but Sunghoon chooses to shove that away).

Heeseung wraps and arm around his shoulder, patting him warmly, "that's our Sunghoon-ie," he says, and Nicholas nods sagely in response.

"Anyway," Jay says, no longer with his mouthful because he's successfully cleaned off five pancakes a.k.a his entire stack (Sunghoon's still making his way through the second one), "how did you two meet?" He says gesturing at Nicholas and Hanbin, "and how did Nicholas convince you to date him?"

Sunghoon laughs, and Nicholas glares, "I can't believe we're meeting irl for the first time in like 4 years and this is how you treat me."

"Are you really surprised though?" Sunghoon asks, "I mean, it _is_ Jay."

"Yeah, fair enough-"

"Okay! Can we please go back to discussing how Nicholas somehow managed to be in a long term relationship before me?"

Sunghoon and Nicholas laugh again, and Sunghoon spots Heeseung and Hanbin exchanging amused looks. Jay continues, "go on! Go on! I need to learn, man." Hanbin laughs, settling into the crook of Nicholas's arm as the younger pulls him closer, resting his head on top of his Hanbins, both of their pancakes left sitting in the front besides Hanbin's still steaming cup of tea. Sunghoon has to admit they're an awfully sweet as a couple - complete opposites in that Hanbin is the visual representation of all things fluffy and pristine with his sweater vest and white shirt, and Nicholas has more piercings than Sunghoon can count and also probably a blunt stashed somewhere in his black Jansport backpack, but they're gag-inducingly saccharine nevertheless. 

"Well, my dance studio was doing a recruitment drive at the high school Nicholas graduated from, and since I'm the youngest staff member they sent me because they thought I'd connect with the high school kids or something," Hanbin says waving off Nicholas's protest of _who-you-calling-kid_ , "anyway, Nicho was there and he started flirting and I'm kind of weak like that," Hanbin continues, scratching the back of his head and Sunghoon can't help but be hopelessly endeared by the older boy's openness, "and then he was like the only kid there who did actually sign up with us and, my god when I tell you he's just the least subtle flirter on the planet, _my god_." Heeseung, Jay and Sunghoon all burst into laughter while Nicholas sits there, scowl on his face, and with his cheeks almost the exact same colour as Jay's milkshake.

"If it's any consolation," Jay adds, "Sunghoon's dense enough to probably see through not even you."

Sunghoon whines at that. " _Stop_!" He says, stretching the word, "I'm not that dense!"

Nicholas grins, "that sounds exactly like something someone dense would say."

Sunghoon pouts and flicks a fry at him, Nicholas simply sticks a tongue out in response and Sunghoon can't help but grin back at him, thinking of how they're really all exactly the same as they were back in middle school. Channeling that energy, he sighs dramatically, collapsing against Heeseung and echoing Nicholas's previous statement. "I can't believe we're meeting irl for the first time in like 4 years," he sighs, "and this is how you treat me." Hanbin and Heeseung collapse into laughter while Nicholas and Jay shoot him matching, unimpressed looks - Sunghoon can't believe that even after all these years apart the two of them are so similar.

On another note, yes, Sunghoon is coming to terms with how oblivious he may be but he refuses to admit it.

"Oh, you _so_ are!" Jay starts.

"Am not!" Sunghoon counteres.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too-"

Nicholas snorts, "wow you two are exactly the same as you were in middle school." Heeseung groans from besides Sunghoon adn says, "tell me about it," with a groan so perplexed Sunghoon spots Hanbin looking genuinely worried from him. Jay and Sunghoon turn to each other, shrug, smile, and turn back to their old friend. "And you've had the same hair since the 3rd grade," Jay says, tentatively sipping his milkshake and pointing a fry at Nicholas's directoon. "And also the same fashion sense," Sunghoon says, gesturing at Nicholas's tie-dye hoodie, "except then it was cool and colourful and now it just drives in your stoner-skater boy aesthetic." Hanbin starts at that, "See! I told you!" He says, jabbing a finger at his boyfriend, "you deadass dress like a modernized version of the stoner dude from scooby doo." Nicholas raises his hands up surrender, "okay, okay, okay!" He says, "although shaggy is literally the best character in scooby doo history."

"Strong disagree," Heeseung says, "Velma superior."

"I gotta go with like Scooby himself," Sunghoon says.

Jay narrows his eyes at him, smirking in a way that is entirely suspicious and that Sunghoon doesn't like one bit. Jay grins, "you're just saying that because 24/7 boy looks like a puppy." Heeseung cackles and Sunghoon groans, "not this again!" He says, "also that makes no sense! Jake doesn't look like Scooby Doo!" (He doesn't, Sunghoon swears by that, yeah he's only seen the dude once by Sunghoon wouldn't have been attracted to him if he looked like Scooby Doo, not that Sunghoon is attracted to him, nope, not one bit, he just likes texting the guy, _that is all_.) Nicholas and Hanbin stare at them curiously as their exchange continues, Nicholas with an additional grin on his face and an announcement of, "well, this sounds like it's got a story to it."

Jay and his big mouth grin back, and promptly tell him everything.

Sunghoon pouts, sips his coffee, finishes his blueberry pancakes, and silently pray for a new set of friends.

Needless to say, Sunghoon leaves the diner thoroughly fed, thoroughly embarrassed, and with 2 new contacts and a couple messages from a certain 24/7 employee on his phone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 5 is up!! and next chapter is officially the halfway point of this fic!!
> 
> next chapter feature: ni-ki and ta-ki!!
> 
> on a much more serious note, my home country and it's democracy are in shambles right now, i don't wanna go into details here because what's happened can be very triggering to a lot of people, but if you wanna help please check out www.justiceforhathrasvictim.carrd.co (trigger warning: rape, casteism, graphic violence) and sign the petitions and spread them if you can, thank you :)


	6. children’s playground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We're not supposed to trust strangers," Niki says, "and we're especially not supposed to take food from them."
> 
> Jay hears Sunghoon and Heeseung snort, he hates them.
> 
> "Fair enough," Jay says nodding, "I guess I'll just eat them, that's good with me-"
> 
> "No!" Taki yells out, peaking over Niki's shoulder (which can't be easy given their fairly prominent height difference), "just, uh, prove it isn't um, poisoned! Prove it isn't poisoned!" Niki seams to agree to that, nodding aggressively. "Yeah," He echoes, eyes determined and scrutinizing on Jay, unlike Taki's, that are still fixed on the treat.
> 
> ("Yeah, Jay," Heeseung says mockingly from behind them, "prove it isn't poisoned!"
> 
> Jay hates them. He hates them. He hates them. He hates them.)

Heeseung steps out of the car, sighing in relief as he finally, finally, gets himself on solid ground.

They've been driving for a little over 5 hours now, and given that they haven't taken any rest stops after breakfast, Heeseung is dreadfully restless. His arms ache and his legs feel heavy and god, is he happy to finally step out of the car. Sunghoon had driven this time, which has in turn given Heeseung's anxiety immense relief because Sunghoon is definitely a better driver than Jay, despite only having a learners permit, and perhaps even more careful than Heeseung is - Sunghoon's like that about most things, Heeseung figures it's a side effect of the fact that a single misstep is potentially career-ending for Sunghoon.

They've just parked outside a park Nicholas and Hanbin had recommended they check out, the plan was to spend an hour of so here before Heeseung would take over driving duties and they'd be on their way once again, a rest stop of sorts. It was a pretty place, green and buzzing with energy, tall trees blanketing the harsh burn of the sun and the sound of family picnics at every corner.

Heeseung's always liked places like this, they remind him of the skate park he grew up going to and the playground beside it, always thrumming with energy as this place was now. Heeseung leaps out of the car first, the minute he's sure Sunghoon has properly parked, Sunghoon steps out next, stretching his arms over his head the minute he does so, and Jay gets out last, having fallen completely asleep and after both Sunghoon and Heeseung use their collective efforts to wake the boy up.

"There's some food here, right?" Jay asks, rubbing his eyes as the three of them walk along the trail that goes through the park, trying their best not to bump in children and old married couples. "There should be," Sunghoon says, "Nicho said something about ice-cream? I think?" Heeseung hums, "yeah there's supposed to be like a junk-food truck somewhere around here, ice cream, milkshakes, hot-dogs, that kinda stuff." Jay perks up at that, the haze of his nap washing away at the mention of food, "sick," he cheers, stretching out the word, before wrapping his arms around both his friends shoulders - with a little difficulty, given both of them were at least a couple centimeters taller than him - and pulling them forward.

Heeseung struggles to follow along with the two younger boys, they claim it's age but Heeseung knows it's just the Jay's arm is wrapped around him in an awfully uncomfortable position, granted Jay is only a cm or so shorter than Sunghoon but a whole 3 or 4 shorter than Heeseung. Jay and Sunghoon are also both unusually fast walkers, and Heeseung, as most people do, walks at a fairly normal pace.

"Can you two slow down," he whines, "I doubt they're going to run out food or anything."

"You never know," Jay says with a whistle, feet quickening and pulling along his two friends even faster. Sunghoon just laughs and says, "let's just hurry up before we have to do the powerpuff jay thing again." Heeseung laughs at that, Jay doesn't, narrowing his eyes and huffing - he also slows down a little, subsequently Sunghoon does too, Heeseung is thankful for that.

Their destination shows itself to be truck near one edge of the park, almost half a kilometer into the trail. It's frankly kind of adorable, Heeseung thinks, all pastels and candy-cane awnings. There's a tall chalk-board with foods listed out resting beside it and a teenager at it's window - distinctly younger than Heeseung but visibly not by much, arguing with what looks to be two kids. Heeseung squints, all three of their voices getting louder as him, Jay and Sunghoon edge closer and closer to the van.

"Oh come on!" One of the kids cries, he's taller, almost as tall as Jay really, wearing dark clothes and what looks to be some sort of modernized hanbok layered over them, "we're regulars here - we should really get discounts by now." The kid beside him nods eagerly, long hair bouncing as he shakes his head, his whole appearance is similarly bouncy, bright colours and full cheeks, notably shorter than the other kid too, "Please, Sungchul-ie," he says cutely, pouting a little, "just one more helping!" The teenager, who Heeseung assumes is the salesman at the stall - probably a part time job or something, groans, pinching his eyebrows. "It's because you're regulars that I know your parents don't let you guys have more than one dessert a day," _Siblings_ , Heeseung notes, "and you both already got a milkshake each! Buy a hot-dog or something."

The kids whine and complain loudly, Heeseung holds back a laugh.

Jay chuckles, "man, Sunghoon that reminds me of you and Yeji."

Sunghoon laughs, Heeseung does too, throwing in an, "I'm assuming she's the kid at the counter and Sunghoon is, uh, those two."

Sunghoon rolls his eyes and Heeseung finds himself being pulled forward again, "okay, cool, now bully me after I get some food."

The boy at the counter perks as he sees them approaching, shedding his previous irritation for a smile. He's a cute kid, Heeseung concedes, he'll certainly grow into a looker. "Hi! How can I help you today?" He asks as Heeseung, Sunghoon and Jay all come to a halt at the counter, right beside where the two kids are sulking - well, one of them is sulking, the other is patting his back with a smile on his face. Ah, the wonderful world of childhood friend-dynamics, Heeseung thinks - the two have a sort of opposites-attract thing going, looking at his own two best friends, Heeseung can't help but think that Sunghoon and Jay have something similar as well (this is exemplified by this one picture of the two of them Heeseung has saved on his phone, with Sunghoon in a pristine white shirt and dark pants and this cute little sweater vest he owns, as opposed to Jay who stands right beside him wearing a pierced bucket hat and distressed jeans and a neon green and black oversized flannel shirt - Heeseung had taken the picture in jeans and a cardigan because, uh, yes).

"Hi," Heeseung beams at the boy at the counter, upon closer notice he says a name-tag -- _another Korean, nice_ \- "uh.. Sungchul! Yes." Sungchul grins back, "that would be me!" He says, "you guys looking for something to eat, I'm assuming." Jay nods excitedly, while Sunghoon and him both rush to crouch down besides the blackboard on the floor and go over it's contents excitedly. "Well first of all, I want a vanilla milkshake," Jay says. "A cold coffee for me," Sunghoon pipes in.

"A slice of chocolate cake."

"Fries as well."

"Ooooh a cookie bucket!" Jay says excitedly.

"Yes definitely - also the fries should be the bacon ones, duh."

"And also the bucket has chocolate chip cookies right?" 

"Oh my god, yes, please tell me they're not...oatmeal raisins."

Sunghoon says the word like it's bitter on his tongue and Heeseung can't help but let out a chuckle.

Sungchul looks anywhere between amused and overwhelmed and Heeseung can see a hit of panic enter his eyes. Heeseung just shoots him a shrug and a sympathetic grin. Jay and Sunghoon are little shits, and Heeseung knows that it's tough being in their presence for the first time, however, since Heeseung has to deal with it basically all the time so, else has to deal with it too. Because equality, and also he says so. Fuck you. Heeseung pulls his eyes away from his best friends, both of whom have now gotten up and walked over to the counter beside him, talking animatedly with - still slightly nervous looking - Sungchul. 

"Not fair," Heeseung hears then, "how come they get more than one dessert!"

It's the kid from before, the taller one in the black. He's frowning deeply and adorably and angril all at once in a way Heeseung is convinced only kids can, arms crossed over his chest and lips pursed into an unintentional pout. Sungchul happens to hear this, face settling back into that annoyed scowl he'd had on before Heeseung, Jay and Sunghoon had walked in. " _Niki_ ," he says - that must be the kids name, meaning the other one must be the aforementioned Taki, "A) They're _paying_ , B) I haven't been _explicitly told_ by their _parents_ to not give them more than one desert, and C) They're all _adults_ \- you and TaKi are **not**." It's silent for a moment, and Heeseung has to hold himself back from laughing out loud watching the kid and the teenager glare at each other with fire in their eyes, all while the other ones stands to the side, looking anywhere between embarrassed and amused - Heeseung feels that.

"If it helps," Jay says, raising his hand, "Sunghoon-ie here is 17 and therefore decidedly not an adult and instead a child."

"See!" Ni-ki yells at that, gesturing wildly at the two.

"Please no," Sungchul mutters at the same time, eyes pleading. 

"Hey!" Sunghoon protests, smacking Jay on the back of his head - Heeseung can't say he didn't see that coming, "shut the fuck up!"

Jay fucking loves kids. Like, he _loves_ them.

They're cute, they're loud, they're funny, most of the time they make Heeseung uncomfortable (Jay _lives_ for that), and they embarrass themselves more than Jay does. All in all, 10/10, quite literally the best the human race has to offer. These two are also great, Jay decides, the two kids trying to worm in an extra ice cream - well, one is, the other is just standing there looking cute and well, Jay can stan that.

This is how he finds himself sneakily buying another two ice creams - he picks up a strawberry and a chocolate, more to be safe than anything else - and saunters back to the spot him, Heeseung and Sunghoon were sitting at - a spot which just so happens to be right next to where Niki and Taki, as they'd introduced themselves, are swinging on the monkey bars, hiding the two cones behind his back. They're both weirdly good at it, Jay notes, watching the two younger boys swing from bar to bar with little to no difficulty - Jay can't even do that now, and he definitely couldn't when he was a kid.

"Oi, you two," Jay says, as he gets closer. All four of them - the kids and Sunghoon and Heeseung - get startled at the sound of his voice, Heeseung's head jerks up from where it's rested on Sunghoon laps, just narrowly missing the younger tall glass of cold-coffee, and Taki almost nearly slips of the monkey bars. Niki seams to be the only one that's fine, and he regards Jay with narrowed eyes. "What do you want," Niki says suspiciously. Taki climbs of the bars and lands on the ground, and Niki immediately pulls him behind himself protectively - Jay would have thought it was cute, except it was in response to him, so all he wants to do is clock Sunghoon in the head for laughing at the sight. It's fine, he himself was taught about stranger danger as a kid, he supposes it's okay.

"Nothing, nothing," Jay says, and then procures the two cones, "just thought I'd get you guys some ice cream."

Niki and Taki's eyes light up at the words, going wide and starry. Niki reverts back to suspicion soon - although, Jay notes that Taki is still staring at the food dreamily, "we're not supposed to trust strangers," Niki says, "and we're especially not supposed to take food from them."

Jay hears Sunghoon and Heeseung snort, he hates them.

"Fair enough," Jay says nodding, "I guess I'll just eat them, that's good with me-"

"No!" Taki yells out, peaking over Niki's shoulder (which can't be easy given their fairly prominent height difference), "just, uh, prove it isn't um, poisoned! Prove it isn't poisoned!" Niki seams to agree to that, nodding aggressively. "Yeah," He echoes, eyes determined and scrutinizing on Jay, unlike Taki's, that are still fixed on the treat.

("Yeah, Jay," Heeseung says mockingly from behind them, "prove it isn't poisoned!"

Jay hates them. He hates them. He hates them. He hates them.)

Also, Jay still loves kids, but kids have an awful, awful track record of completely hating him (he's still haunted by his baby cousin Yoonwon literally biting him at literally no provocation when Jay was 14th and just wanted to give him a goddamn gummy bear - this is not an isolated incident, don't ask).

Jay his friends a scathing glare for good measure, before turning back to the kids. "And how do you propose I do that," he says, raising a teasing eyebrow, "I can't just take a lick - then you guys can't have any." Taki pouts at that, looking wistful, Niki looks contemplative, eyes flickering between Jay and the treats in his hand. Jay hears footsteps from behind them, and all of a sudden Sunghoon's next to him. The taller grabs the cones and crouches down in front of the kids, face melting into that smile that makes every single person that ever comes in contact with it basically fall in love with Sunghoon. He extends the two cones forward, smile unflinching and says, "come on, you guys can trust us," he smiles wide and Jay catches the red on Niki and Taki's cheeks (it's infuriating that Sunghoon somehow manages to has this effect on _kids_ as well), "I know Jay over here looks all big and scary but - and you didn't hear this from me - he's literally the softest person ever, he's also not nearly smart enough to be able to trick smart kids like you into getting poisoned."

Niki nods slowly, eyes reaching out to gingerly pick up the cone from Sunghoon's hand, Taki follows, lips spreading into a large smile. "Thank you,"Niki says softly, face still red, and Jay wonders how the fuck this was the same kid who was glaring at him 3 seconds ago. Taki repeats his statement, smiling wide and taking eager licks from his ice cream. Sunghoon smiles again, the corners of his eye crinkling, and he pats them both on the head, ruffling their hair, before getting up and leaving, graceful as ever, with an "enjoy the ice-cream."

At that the two kids run off to the swings, chatting excitedly with each other, and Jay skulks back to their own picnic spot.

"Sunghoon," he says once he reaches, "it's always Sunghoon - the girls, the boys, even the kids."

Sunghoon just laughs.

"I hate you."

"I think you mean 'thank you'," Sunghoon says, "for not getting you a restraining order." Jay gasps in offense, ready to retort, when Heeseung interrupts him. "Yeah, man," he says with a chuckle, "you don't just offer random kids ice cream, especially when you're wearing an oversized Strokes hoodie and a bunch of silver chains and also a whole bucket hat with rings in it." Jay pouts, they have a point, but he doesn't like admitting it.

"I hate both of you." 

Heeseung hums, "and you would probably be in jail without us."

Jay throws a fry at him. Sunghoon laughs. All is right in the world - despite Jay just having his 2780348924th embarrassing moment.

Jay lays down on the grass, placing his head on Sunghoon just as Heeseung has, using the thigh not already occupied by the older. They've bought a lot of food, more than they need really - especially given the amount of pancakes that they had for breakfast. It's fine though, Jay knows for a fact that they'll finish all of it because well, food. "Who's driving next," Sunghoon asks lowley, the atmosphere's nice and quiet and sunny, and Sunghoon keeps his voice low to match that, it's nice, and peaceful, and Jay almost forgets how he was just rejected by two little kids.

"Me," Heeseung says, stretching his arms upwards. They once again very narrowly miss Sunghoon's cold coffee - it would be a disaster if it did spill, given that the three of them ar on top of each other and it would most definitely get on all of them and also this is Jay's favorite hat and something tells him that finding a laundromat on the highway - or anywhere near the park - is going to be hard. "I haven't driven in a while," Heeseung continues, hand navigating through to the fries to make sure he gets some bacon in there as well. "You literally drove yesterday," Jay pipes in, and Heeseung shrugs, "given that I'm the main driver in this group - it's been a while."

" _Main driver_ ," Sunghoon snorts, "what are we a kpop group?"

Jay laughs, "Main driver Lee Heeseung, lead driver Jay Park, sub driver Park Sunghoon."

"Why am _I_ the sub driver, I'm deadass a better driver than you."

"He's not wrong, Jay."

"Well _I_ have my license and _S_ unghoon-ie _here_ don't so honestly you're not even a sub driver - you're a _trainee_ driver."

"A trainee driver that's better than you."

"No," Jay says, grinning all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably my least favorite chapter so far asdfghjk SORRY school's just been back lately and i am drowning in coursework and um yes!! Anyway, wanted to get this chapter out before Heeseung's birthday so here it is!!! HAPPY HEEDEUNGIE DAY!!!
> 
> next chapter features: Geonu!!

**Author's Note:**

> to listen to the playlist the boys' are vibing to just click on the last word of chapter 1 🙃 (fair warning this is the most chaotic playlist i've ever made, i thought of what the boys would probably listen to and then sprinkled in some of my favorites, so it's mostly a bunch of rap, hip-hop and ofc kpop, with a healthy dose of good old fashioned pop, some nostalgia, and all the pretentious alt indie pop i listen to religiously, thank you)


End file.
